http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe#Interpretation_and_importance
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Interpretation and importance
Göbekli Tepe is regarded as an archaeological discovery of the greatest importance since it could profoundly change our understanding of a crucial stage in the development of human societies. It seems that the erection of monumental complexes was within the capacities of hunter-gatherers and not only of sedentary farming communities as had been previously assumed. In other words, as excavator Klaus Schmidt puts it: “First came the temple, then the city.” This revolutionary hypothesis will have to be supported or modified by future research.
Not only its large dimensions, but the side-by-side existence of multiple pillar shrines makes the location unique. There are no comparable monumental complexes from its time. Nevalı Çori, a well-known Neolithic settlement also excavated by the German Archaeological Institute, and submerged by the Atatürk Dam since 1992, is 500 years later, its T-shaped pillars are considerably smaller, and its shrine was located inside a village; the roughly contemporary architecture at Jericho is devoid of artistic merit or large-scale sculpture; and Çatalhöyük, perhaps the most famous of all Anatolian Neolithic villages, is 2,000 years younger.
Schmidt has engaged in some speculation regarding the belief systems of the groups that created Göbekli Tepe, based on comparisons with other shrines and settlements. He assumes shamanic practices and suggests that the T-shaped pillars may represent mythical creatures, perhaps ancestors, whereas he sees a fully articulated belief in gods only developing later in Mesopotamia, associated with extensive temples and palaces. This corresponds well with an ancient Sumerian belief that agriculture, animal husbandry and weaving had been brought to mankind from the sacred mountain Du-Ku, which was inhabited by Annuna—deities, very ancient gods without individual names. Klaus Schmidt identifies this story as an oriental primeval myth that preserves a partial memory of the Neolithic. It is also apparent that the animal and other images give no indication of organized violence, i.e., there are no depictions of hunting raids or wounded animals, and the pillar carvings ignore game on which the society mainly subsisted, like deer, in favor of formidable creatures such as lions, snakes, spiders and scorpions.
At present, Göbekli Tepe raises more questions for archaeology and prehistory than it answers. We do not know how a force large enough to construct, augment, and maintain such a substantial complex was mobilized and paid or fed in the conditions of pre-Neolithic society. We cannot “read” the pictograms, and do not know for certain what meaning the animal reliefs had for visitors to the site; the variety of fauna depicted, from lions and boars to birds and insects, makes any single explanation problematic. As there seems to be little or no evidence of habitation, and the animals depicted on the stones are mainly predators, the stones may have been intended to stave off evils through some form of magic representation; it is also possible that they served as totems. It is not known why more and more walls were added to the interiors while the sanctuary was in use, with the result that some of the engraved pillars were obscured from view. Burial may or may not have occurred at the site. The reason the complex was eventually buried remains unexplained. Until more evidence is gathered, it is difficult to deduce anything certain about the originating culture.
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Schmidt’s Gobekli Tepe theory stands out because of its sweeping ambition — unveiling the mystery of monument building without disposing the science. We shall see what further empirical archeological finds bring us in order to extrapolate anew.
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Genesis can be thought of as a poetic creation, stating that God’s relationship to humanity is as personal as the potter’s is to the clay from which the potter fashions the vase. So the same, the polemic of the quick & the dead [Psalm 74] bespeaks ingratitude/petulance/biliousness [Psalms 2, 52, 94, & 137]
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Strange as it sounds, religion and wellbeing go hand in hand — not sure if spiritual faith makes you joyful or if joyful folks tend to be faith-based/spiritual. Joyful folks improvise & adapt to their predicament. 😉
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Faith-based pilgrims live as much as 14 yrs. longer than others, perhaps because of acceptance/adjustment/voluntary obedience to a higher authority/power w/no chip on the shoulder.
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Okinawans/Uchinanchu rank among the world’s longest-lived folks, and it’s not certain they are faith-based 😉 but they create a group of mutually committed friends– moai — otagai like oyakoko [supportive positive friends analog unconditionally loving family members].
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Emotional thrivers/exemplars can cultivate their relationships/wider social circles w/others who have positive/upbeat attributes, as opposed to others who load you down w/negative feelings.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHcCh6u8YU&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XubpNvw7BC0&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StKVbOog9KI
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NO–bqmB6k&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL822D533C6961C4C5
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZyYyS8asnc&feature=related
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unheralded yet great voice as an instrument, sultry sensual Sarah McLaughlin — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1ZroA6vb8
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and in her unadorned settings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Czzv7qRXQY
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slim & in casual “slippers” [end of video on song “Grenade”] http://www.youtube.com/user/SarahMcLaughlin18
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and unheralded Anna Zorkina has immensely gifted talent & presence —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyraGzTT0Fg
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so the same for male tenor vocalist Roni RCB [go to 34 seconds of this You Tube video — time sequence is at the bottom of the screen/video]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBwa8xYQfM4&feature=related
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and for India rocker Girish Pradhan, listen to his great ole’ time run/glide notes at 1:32 of this youtube, consisting of 3 seconds of climactic sliding —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFX5ejmdlc4
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Girish reminds me of my hard rock genesis generation’s Tim Bogert [Vanilla Fudge], underrated vocalist, and Girish is every bit as good if not better than the originators of today’s sound. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Bogert
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nrF8hikZhY
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5RYptkzbjY&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmGp942tK2s&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G7yUzLRv-I&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KBsinUy0vM&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kygDJKuCz-Y
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZK8AGhlPLk
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcKS8j0s_s&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FdyaYFZ3gk
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NTsr1NfDE0&feature=related — sultry intro like Vince & the Valiants’ “All I Want for Christmas is You” below
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggBFAsYJ7b8&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2-rOzS69ISA
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTKFR3ra2ts
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPMG5r52jD4&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn95wgLNqUY
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TP_75tnEUE&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqxY6CXhcso
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWBljCO0JQk&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8lyA06Eybs&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRYWlFMmhMc
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjj26q6w75Y&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h294OK5ybkM&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8md6gBznGE&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyLQViMuE7I&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAPEfdjvTqE&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c49klxPex-k&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HZsZq5PjQQ&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1VkMBi9vvw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV8x7H3DD8Y&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Bwv4fSYN0
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqqFJf6_Ags&feature=related
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[Mariah’s voice as a great instrument]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGeBrNRtD1Q&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOVPGxwvzvg&feature=related
[smooth El DeBarge]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWcPo0i7hX8&feature=related
[Ronnie James Dio later heavy metal legend]
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Marilyn Monroe flourish & fantastic voice — Zeta Katzman —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZeB8Tx3tvg
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never judge a book by its cover — what appear to be cruddy hippies might have angels in their vocal chords. Never ever assume what appear to be obvious. Ever.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQOzAgy_RJg&feature=related
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Thank you, Arlene Smith born 1941, lead vocalist [& tallest in height] of the pioneer female R &B Chantels vocal group, for pointing out the immense legacy of Otis Blackwell [NYC Arlene came after L.A. Etta James, both coast to coast titular vocalists][see Etta James’ rebel nature below] —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Blackwell#Legacy
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It isn’t often that the title of a song will create a whole new expression in Americana. “All Shook Up” did exactly that. Youngsters and adults alike have made the phrase a common part of everyday usage.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chantels
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Etta James’ professional success, however, was balanced against personal demons, namely a drug addiction.
“I was trying to be cool,” she told the AP in 1995, explaining what had led her to try heroin.
“I hung out in Harlem and saw Miles Davis and all the jazz cats,” she continued. “At one time, my heavy role models were all druggies. Billie Holiday sang so groovy. Is that because she’s on drugs? It was in my mind as a young person. I probably thought I was a young Billie Holiday, doing whatever came with that.”
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/137766318.html?id=137766318
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and you think smolderingly hot Elvis Presley [now Johnny Depp & Waikiki’s Bruno Mars ergo Puerto Rican/Pinoy Pete Hernandez born 1985] is IT? Get a load here of Richard nothing Little about Richard —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRSBh5ddlbA&feature=related
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Mars#1985.E2.80.932008:_Early_life_and_beginnings
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What talents/gifts do you offer to others?
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What impassions/charges you up exhilaratingly?
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Do you share your gifts on matters/persons/groups you love to no end in a milieu which you value highest or which values you a lot? Rich Leider’s The Power of Purpose chastens that such a formula/intimate personal mission statement gives you every reason to get up in the morning! http://richardleider.com/
Recognize your purpose in living each day or week or for an eternity.
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beautiful tribute to one’s grandmother —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmqEnEhjFp0&feature=related
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Stevie Wonder’s 1976 album “Songs in the Key of Life” is the greatest compilation of songs on a single non-alltime greats album. His “I Wish” song is the finest fusion of rock & jazz to date
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjpKOPh7BXA
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbLMuH_fL60&feature=related
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The voice as an instrument — unfettered by amenities of setting/lighting/mood/orchestra
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ2gk1tINP4&feature=related
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I saw this heartbreaker video below & realized a day after I saw it how prophetic hapa-haole Korean Kolleen Park was in asking what then was perceived as an inapt question, “Why do you sing?” The vocalist expresses his deepest needs thru song. Point is that the evening I saw this video I dreamt that I was crouched on top of a Hana Maui black sand beach peak [ancient cinder cone] & didn’t know how I got there or how to get down to the beach level. “I wanted to belong.” Yikes. To a soulmate?? 😉
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beneficent Song Yun-ah & Kolleen Park extol Sung-bong Choi
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewknNW2b8Y&feature=rellist&playnext=1&list=PL4B72D00ED2882AA2
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Yun-ah
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolleen_Park
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bless NYC —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WskZcaK3pA8
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Sage Steven Kalas born 1957 on self worth [desire to love & to be loved] —
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The authors say that “only the most fortunate get the best” of this “enemy.” And here I disagree. It’s not so much the fortunate that make progress in self-understanding. Rather, it’s endurance. Near foolish persistence. It’s a relentless hunger to mine the full riches of selfhood, no matter how dark it is down there. No matter how many times the tunnels collapse.
Still, there are days when I am a stranger to myself. Mystified and discouraged. That’s when I change the question from “Who am I?” to “Whose am I?” I am a father. I am a mate. I am a friend. A citizen. A neighbor. I belong to the people in the equations of those relationships.
No matter what I understand or don’t understand about me, I can always love, honor, respect, cherish, be generous and attentive to people who need me.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/exploring-selfhood-takes-courage-patience-endurance-131940388.html
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lesson plans and love —
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Lesson plans filled with unsettling contempt for others scar us all. And yet through it all, we desire to love and to be loved beneath our scarred features. Via sage Steven Kalas born 1957 — from the song Purple Heart —
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Love’s Purple Heart is won.
Once upon a time
You promised to believe
That wounded hearts though painful
Are the only hearts that grow.
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Yes, as pop leader Tori Amos says, step into your grace [fulfill your spiritual destiny].
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In Latin, the word “mystery” is an invitation to solve a puzzle. If you buy a mystery novel, the goal is to turn the pages until it’s no longer a mystery. But when I say “mystery” above, I mean the Greek “musterion.” It’s not an invitation to solve; rather, to respect. It’s immutable. You only embrace through humble silence.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/the-relief-and-comfort-of-learning-what-you-don-t-know-140473093.html
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Class consciousness underlies ethnic/sectarian conflicts. Class as divisive —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest#As_a_satire_of_society
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As a satire of society
The play repeatedly mocks Victorian mores and social customs, marriage and the pursuit of love in particular. In Victorian times earnestness was considered to be the over-riding societal value, originating in religious attempts to reform the lower classes, it spread to the upper ones too throughout the century. The play’s very title, with its mocking paradox [serious people are so because they do not see trivial comedies] introduces the theme, it continues in the drawing room discussion, “Yes, but you must be serious about it. I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them” says Algernon in Act 1; allusions are quick and from multiple angles. Wilde embodied society’s rules and rituals artfully into Lady Bracknell: minute attention to the details of her style created a comic effect of assertion by restraint. In contrast to her encyclopaedic knowledge of the social distinctions of London’s street names, Jack’s obscure parentage is subtly evoked. He defends himself against her “A handbag?” with the clarification, “The Brighton Line.” At the time, Victoria Station consisted of two separate but adjacent terminal stations sharing the same name. To the east was the ramshackle LC&D Railway, on the west the up-market LB&SCR—the Brighton Line, which went to Worthing, the fashionable, expensive town the gentleman who found baby Jack was travelling to at the time [and after which Jack was named].
Wilde managed both to engage with and to mock the genre. The men follow traditional matrimonial rites, but the foibles they excuse are ridiculous, and the farce is built on an absurd confusion of a book and a baby. In turn, both Gwendolen and Cecily have the ideal of marrying a man named Ernest, a popular and respected name at the time, and they indignantly declare that they have been deceived when they find out the men’s real names. When Jack apologizes to Gwendolen during his marriage proposal it is for not being wicked:
JACK: Gwendolen, it is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth. Can you forgive me?
GWENDOLEN: I can. For I feel that you are sure to change.*
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/opinion/krugman-how-fares-the-dream.html?_r=2&ref=paulkrugman
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Over the course of the 1960s and 1970s substantial numbers of black families moved into the middle class, and even into the upper middle class; the percentage of black households in the top 20 percent of the income distribution nearly doubled.
But around 1980 the relative economic position of blacks in America stopped improving. Why? An important part of the answer, surely, is that circa 1980 income disparities in the United States began to widen dramatically, turning us into a society more unequal than at any time since the 1920s.
Think of the income distribution as a ladder, with different people on different rungs. Starting around 1980, the rungs began moving ever farther apart, adversely affecting black economic progress in two ways. First, because many blacks were still on the lower rungs, they were left behind as income at the top of the ladder soared while income near the bottom stagnated. Second, as the rungs moved farther apart, the ladder became harder to climb.
The Times recently reported on a well-established finding that still surprises many Americans when they hear about it: although we still see ourselves as the land of opportunity, we actually have less intergenerational economic mobility than other advanced nations. That is, the chances that someone born into a low-income family will end up with high income, or vice versa, are significantly lower here than in Canada or Europe.
And there’s every reason to believe that our low economic mobility has a lot to do with our high level of income inequality.
Alan Krueger, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, gave an important speech about income inequality, presenting a relationship he dubbed the “Great Gatsby Curve.” Highly unequal countries, he showed, have low mobility: the more unequal a society is, the greater the extent to which an individual’s economic status is determined by his or her parents’ status. And as Mr. Krueger pointed out, this relationship suggests that America in the year 2035 will have even less mobility than it has now, that it will be a place in which the economic prospects of children largely reflect the class into which they were born.
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gassed out/fuel prices http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/price-of-oil_b_1290409.html?ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=022112&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/opinion/krugman-taxes-at-the-top.html?_r=2&ref=paulkrugman
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http://wealthforcommongood.org/william-rice-the-rich-dont-need-a-free-ride/
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http://baselinescenario.com/2012/01/27/what-is-private-equity/
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Hi Steven: Curt from Hawai’i here. I’m heterosexual. I apologize in advance for intruding on you.
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I posted my thoughts on loss/absence of a soulmate in my blog. I don’t know if this helps, but “what the hell,” right?? Thanks, Steven, for your utterly fulfilling interchanges of wisdom and thoughts!! Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!! [Happy New Year]
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In an “over on its head” reversal of convention, maybe Heavenly Father constructs “memorials” of loss/goodbye/grief for me to appreciate as mileposts in life’s walk in Faith. That no matter the “huli ‘au” upside down nature of the death of possibilities/hopes/dreams/relationships, each experience is a learning odyssey [learning life enrichment/wisdom-clarity make the relationship worth its while], from which hope still springs eternal, so to speak. That love never dies, no matter the external circumstance. That to love and to be loved are life’s precious rewards, no matter the risk of loss/harm/disrepute. Love suffuses thru us all. The power of love. The unalterable word — not “If,” but “Will,” in Love.
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deprived of love, maybe one appreciates love more if and when the wholeness of love comes [metaphorically restore homeostasis] —
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My great hero & vocalist Mariska Veres 1947-2006 always evoked passion & love. Go to seconds 49-55 on this You Tube video [time sequence is at the bottom of the video] & experience thriving & climactic love!!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTb1LYaFV8I
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Baby, I’m yours! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8m0Tp97eOw
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Deliriously demented! 😉 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6SlK9uHTc8&feature=related
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from compassionate Carol Ludloff Arnold –
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Mahalo for sharing all these wonderful thought-provoking missives — have a wonderful New Year!
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/gestalt-therapy-can-open-doors-to-more-authentic-life-118731604.html
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Gestalt [form — the whole is other than the sum of its parts] is a spontaneous moment wherein the whole of a human being is radically open and present to the wholeness of a life experience.
We can’t decide to open a gestalt. It happens apart from our will. It’s not a choice; rather, a happening. An in-breaking. Gestalts bend time and space. At once do gestalts frighten and fascinate.
Falling in love is a gestalt. Acute grief is a gestalt. Profound awe is a gestalt. Comedy can open a gestalt. The wonder of nature. Authentic joy. Physical suffering. Religious experience. Terror. Great art form — music, dance, sculpture, paintings. Intense anger. Sex is a gestalt. Passionate oratory can open a gestalt, in individuals or sometimes entire nations, for better or worse (see the public addresses of Adolph Hitler).
The ability to be radically open to the wholeness of the human experience has rich benefits. An open gestalt can generate vitality and more personal freedom. It invites greater authenticity.
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My biggest hero is Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor, who intones that everything can be taken from a person but one thing: The last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, as when Viktor faced down the insanity/madness of Hitler’s death squads.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logotherapy#Discovering_meaning
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Logotherapy was developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. It is considered the “Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy” after Freud’s psychoanalysis and Adler’s individual psychology. It is a type of existentialist analysis which focuses on a will to meaning as opposed to Adler’s Nietzschean doctrine of will to power or Freud’s will to pleasure. Rather than power or pleasure, logotherapy is founded upon the belief that it is the striving to find a meaning in one’s life that is the primary most powerful motivating and driving force in humans. A short introduction to this paradigm is given in Frankl’s most famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning, in which he outlines how his theories helped him to survive his Holocaust experience and how that experience further developed and reinforced his theories.
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Basic principles
The notion of Logotherapy was created with the Greek word logos [“meaning”]. Frankl’s concept is based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find meaning in life. The following list of tenets represents basic principles of logotherapy:
- Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
- Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
- We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.
The human spirit is referred to in several of the assumptions of logotherapy, but the use of the term spirit is not “spiritual” or “religious.” In Frankl’s view, the spirit is the will of the human being. The emphasis, therefore, is on the search for meaning, which is not necessarily the search for God or any other supernatural being. Frankl also noted the barriers to humanity’s quest for meaning in life. He warns against “…affluence, hedonism, [and] materialism…” in the search for meaning.
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Discovering meaning
According to Frankl, “We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering,” and that “everything can be taken from a person but one thing: The last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” On the meaning of suffering, Frankl gives the following example:
Once, an elderly general practitioner consulted me because of his severe depression. He could not overcome the loss of his wife who had died two years before and whom he had loved above all else. Now how could I help him? What should I tell him? I refrained from telling him anything, but instead confronted him with a question, “What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?” “Oh,” he said, “for her this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!” Whereupon I replied, “You see, Doctor, such a suffering has been spared her, and it is you who have spared her this suffering; but now, you have to pay for it by surviving and mourning her.” He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left the office.— Viktor Frankl**
Frankl emphasized that realizing the value of suffering is meaningful only when the first two creative possibilities are not available (for example, in a concentration camp) and only when such suffering is inevitable – he was not proposing that people suffer unnecessarily.
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Philosophical basis of Logotherapy
Frankl described the metaclinical implications of logotherapy in his book The Will of Meaning: Foundations and Applications of Logotherapy. He believed that there is no psychotherapy apart from the theory of man. As an existential psychologist, he inherently disagreed with the “machine model,” as it undermines the human quality of humans. As a neurologist and psychiatrist, Frankl developed a unique view of determinism to coexist with the three basic pillars of logotherapy [the freedom of will]. Though Frankl admitted that man can never be free from every condition, such as, biological, sociological, or psychological determinants, based on his experience in the Holocaust, he believed that man is “capable of resisting and braving even the worst conditions.” In doing such, man can detach from situations, himself, choose an attitude about himself, determine his own determinants, thus shaping his own character and becoming responsible for himself.
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After the death of Frankl’s wife and Frankl’s parents and brother during the Holocaust, he used religion to cope with their deaths, affirming his beliefs in God or a higher meaning. Frankl recognized that his logotherapy ultimately led to meaning through faith.
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Word play: “for the sake of ” is the opposite of “forsaken” — The Wordbook dictionary states that “forsake” is derived from an Old English word “forsacan.” “for” means “completely” and “sacan” means “deny.
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Word play: “Hope against hope” is a contradiction but has Biblical roots —
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http://bible.cc/romans/4-18.htm
Who against hope believed in hope,…. Abraham believed the promise of God,
that he might become the father of many nations, being assisted by a supernatural aid: “in hope”; of the fulfilment of it by the grace and power of God: “against hope”: against all visible, rational grounds of hope.
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A Charles Dickens softened heart like Victor Frankl’s right attitude is what Christmas is all about — from great scribe Maureen Dowd –
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AT the end of his life, Charles Dickens did not have great expectations for Christmas.
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He had separated from his wife, describing his marriage as “blighted and wasted.” His mistress was not around. He was disappointed that his sons lacked his ambition. His final Christmas, he wrote a colleague, was painful and miserable.
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“The Inimitable,” as he had christened himself when he was young and celebrated, was drained from traveling to give paid readings and suffering from such severe gout that he could not write clearly or walk well. He was confined to bed all Christmas Day and through dinner, bleak in his house.
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Literature’s answer to Santa Claus, as Robert Douglas-Fairhurst writes in “Becoming Dickens,” had always gravitated to the holiday.
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“Christmas was always a time which in our home was looked forward to with eagerness and delight,” his daughter Mamie said.
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Dickens would dance and play the conjurer. “My father was always at his best, a splendid host, bright and jolly as a boy and throwing his heart and soul into everything,” recalled his son Henry.
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Douglas-Fairhurst wonders if this “inventor of Christmas” might have developed his “ruthless” determination to enjoy the day because of the traumatic year he spent as a child working in a rat-infested shoe-polish warehouse in London after his father went to prison for debts. Did England’s most famous novelist need “to recreate his childhood as it should have been rather than as it was?”
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The biographer notes that Dickens, in his fiction, “rarely describes a family Christmas without showing how vulnerable it is to being broken apart by a more miserable alternative.
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In ‘Great Expectations’ it is the soldiers who burst into Pip’s home on Christmas Day, saving him from a dinner in which the only highlight is Joe slopping extra spoonfuls of gravy onto his plate.
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In ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood,’ the young hero goes missing on Christmas Eve, leaving behind several clues that he had been murdered by his uncle.
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Saddest of all, in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ Scrooge is forced by the Ghost of Christmas Past to observe his boyhood self left behind at school, and weeps ‘to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.’ ”
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Douglas-Fairhurst points out that Dickens’s fiction teems with ifs, just-supposes and alternative scenarios, “what might have been and what was not.” He even wrote two different endings for “Great Expectations,” one where Estella and Pip don’t end up together and one where they seem to.
“Pause you,” Pip says, “and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.”
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Dickens was rescued from the warehouse and sent back to school when his father got out of prison and wangled a Navy pension. But that year drove home to him how frighteningly random fate can be.
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“I might easily have been, for any care that was taken of me, a little robber or a little vagabond,” he once said.
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His need to control his fate may have led to a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He routinely rearranged the furniture in hotel rooms, acknowledging that his “love of order” was “almost a disorder.”
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Dickens — whose bicentenary will be celebrated on Feb. 7 — worked himself to death at 58, but he always feared obscurity was lurking.
In October 1843, he had the idea for “A Christmas Carol.”
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As Claire Tomalin writes in another new book, “Charles Dickens: A Life,” he told a friend “he had composed it in his head, weeping and laughing and weeping again” as he walked around London at night.
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He had visited one of the “ragged schools,” set up in poor parts of London by volunteer teachers to educate homeless, starving and disabled pupils, and the novella, published that December, was his screed about the indifference of the rich toward those less fortunate.
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Scrooge gets redeemed from an alternate life as a misanthrope, and Tiny Tim is saved from death. But two “wolfish” children, a boy named Ignorance and a girl named Want, are not rescued, but rather left to haunt readers’ consciences.
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In his 1851 short story “What Christmas Is As We Grow Older,” Dickens makes the case that the holiday is the time to “bear witness” to our parallel lives, our “old aspirations,” “old projects” and “old loves.”
“Welcome, alike what has been, and what never was, and what we hope may be, to your shelter underneath the holly,” he wrote.
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Maybe, he suggests, you end up better off without that “priceless pearl” who does not return your love. Maybe you don’t have to suppress the memory of deceased loved ones.
“Lost friend, lost child, lost parent, sister, brother, husband, wife, we will not so discard you!” he wrote. “You shall hold your cherished places in our Christmas hearts, and by our Christmas fires; and in the season of immortal hope, and on the birthday of immortal mercy, we will shut out Nothing!”
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Tony Bennett is a prophet, who speaks from a higher order, from God, not one who speaks from us on earth. He is not of this world, but of Providence/Heaven. –
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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1110/10/pmt.01.html
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Piers MORGAN: How much — how much of your ability to be successful for so long do you think is down to having strong people like your mother in your early life?
BENNETT: It meant everything. It meant everything. It meant everything. It gave me the proper, natural human love, and it worked.
MORGAN: Let’s take another break. I want to come back and talk to you about politics, about when you marched back in the ’60s, the Civil Rights marches, Martin Luther King, the Kennedys and indeed President Obama today. Let’s hear what your thoughts about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC VIDEO)
MORGAN: Well, that was your theme tune, isn’t it, really, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”?
BENNETT: That’s my signature song.
MORGAN: Yes. Do you ever get tired of singing it?
BENNETT: No, not at all. That’s a beautiful song and it’s a magnificent city in the United States.
MORGAN: If you had five minutes to live, what song would you sing? BENNETT: I’d sing the last line of that song.
MORGAN: Would you?
BENNETT: “Your golden sun will shine for me.”
MORGAN: Yes, great line. And that would be —
BENNETT: “When I come home to you, San Francisco, your golden sun will shine for me.” Because it’s not just about the city. It’s about every optimistic person on the planet. We all love to be optimistic. We are instinctively optimistic. And that song says it. Everybody has a dream and a hope that something’s going to work for them. And then when it happens, it’s a great joy.
MORGAN: In the ’60s, you became involved in the American Civil rights movement. You participate in the ’68 Selma to Montgomery marches. Did you think then when Martin Luther King was assassinated, did you think in your lifetime, you would see a black president in America?
BENNETT: I think it’s the greatest accomplishment that the United States ever came up with. I think it’s magnificent. Because he’s not only an African-American, but he’s — you know, I’ve always respected intellectual people. And he’s an intellect.
MORGAN: He’s intelligent.
BENNETT: He’s highly — he’s more than intelligent. He’s very bright. Highly bright. And I love the fact that this great country — it’s a great step for humanity, for the world to learn that even though I love this country more than anything that could ever happen, it’s kind of ahead of all the other countries, because instead of one philosophy, it has many. It has a great palette to choose from. From every society and every religion. That only happens in the United States.
MORGAN: It was very courageous of you to do what you did personally in the ’60s, to go on those marches. It was a contentious thing to do. What was driving you at the time?
BENNETT: It’s a dream of mine that someday the world will pick themselves up by their boot straps and better themselves, walk toward humanity, realize what a gift it is to be alive and to be on this planet. What a gift it is that we’re alive.
MORGAN: How important for you in forming your character was fighting in the war? Because you saw some pretty heavy action. I mean, you were involved in the famous Battle of the Bulge, across France to Germany and the U.S. army from November 1944.
You know, when I talk to people from that era, they always say that when you go to war, the stuff you experience, it shapes your character forever. And it gives you a sense of perspective on life that nothing else can. Was that — was that how you felt?
BENNETT: Well, yes. It taught me — personally, it taught me that fighting, killing someone is the lowest form of human behavior.
MORGAN: But do you feel that war is ever justified?
BENNETT: Well —
MORGAN: I mean, when the allies took on the Nazis, when Adolf Hitler was trying to take over the world, and was clearly an evil man, is it not an imperative to then defend yourselves against someone like him? With all the collateral damage that comes?
BENNETT: It’s a very difficult question, because I think we should have a society of highly educated, intelligent people that will think realistically about how to do things.
When I said to you earlier that the lowest form of nature is to kill someone –it’s the lowest form of humanity. It’s the bottom of the line. So we’re actually intellectual cavemen at this point. No matter how much technical things we work out, we’re still fighting.
And it’s my dream that someday we’ll find out or everybody will learn that — what a gift it is to be alive and how we should cherish one another and appreciate one another.
MORGAN: You ran into trouble with Howard Stern. And you’re not the first to do that, by the way. So –
T. BENNETT: On a daily basis.
MORGAN: You ran into trouble. You made comments that, on the face of it, seemed quite inflammatory about 9/11 and so on. Was that really the point you were making?
T. BENNETT: Yes.
MORGAN: Is it really — if — you have to value life higher than everyone in the modern world appears to be valuing it. All governments appear to be involved in some kind of conflict, war, whatever.
T. BENNETT: Oh, gosh. Understand that we’re all on this planet and we only have one quick life. It’s only a hundred years. If we’re lucky, we live a hundred years. We should realize what a gift that is to be alive.
MORGAN: What does it mean to you to be an American?
T. BENNETT: Well, America — to be an American is you’re ahead of everybody on the planet. It’s the first country where it’s not one philosophy but many, many philosophies. And it’s one of the things that we should celebrate, the fact that all different religions, every different nationality. And we should cherish the best of every religion and every nationality. We should — we should cherish it. And it’s much more creative to live that way than to have one philosophy, and this is how we do it. With all the other countries, that’s the way it is.
MORGAN: It’s strange to think there are lots of people out there that would actually directly oppose that kind of ambition. And they do. And it’s a sad reflection of —
T. BENNETT: It’s a matter of education.
MORGAN: Yes, I think you’re right. I think you’re right. I think if the money that was put into warfare was put into education –
T. BENNETT: Oh, boy.
MORGAN: — around the world, it would a very different world, right?
T. BENNETT: Absolutely.
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intellectual caveman/numbskull talking head-noisebox [& moronic football fan/subconscious actual gaylee Roland Martin] http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/139008849.html?id=139008849
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Reprise 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 — Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful, so the same God chose those who reside in the forsaken social margins. In Dean Edmoundson’s case, those who reside in the forsaken social margins in Puna might benefit from Dean’s painting of their church!
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not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind.”
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A Thanksgiving pericope/parable 2011 —
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Jesus’ Pericope/Parable —
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Jesus chastened the so-called wise men/pharisees to humble themselves when the so-called unclean woman came upon them. This unclean woman had a clean heart. The so-called wise men slammed Jesus for carrying a chip on his shoulder in aiding this irrelevant woman.
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Jesus queried why do these pharisees attribute anger and unforgiveness unto Jesus when the unclean woman actually was 10 steps ahead of them in God’s Love??
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Jesus’ Pericope has the so-called foolish and forsaken of society make fools of the wise men. Jesus has the powerless render surrender upon the powerful. Why does a holier than thou “chosen one” wise man in this Thanksgiving of 2011 attribute anger and unforgiveness unto the forsaken of our social margins? When in fact the forsaken and the foolish are 10 steps ahead of the so-called self-ascribed “chosen ones” who posture ingloriously unto Jesus?
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Jesus turned upside down the so-called sentient notions of this earthly realm such as those touted by the overproud “chosen ones.” The forsaken margins of society have a closer affinity with Jesus than the parochial “chosen ones.” In this Pericope on Thanksgiving Day 2011 Pastor walked in with an angry heart amongst us when Pastor questioned who are these Thanksgiving food offerings for?! The unclean woman at the outer edge of our social margins 2 thousand years ago nonetheless walked in with a clean heart among the overproud pharisees. The so-called “chosen ones” yesterday got more than they bargained for when Pastor walked in with the wrong intent, to issue judgment upon the hungry. The unclean woman has a closer affinity with Jesus than the self-ascribed Pastor, though 2 thousand years separate them. Thy Will Be Done. The unalterable line: Will, not if.
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“Without, yet within” [“deprived,” yet “fulfilled”]
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3 of my 5 grandkids/mo’opuna ages 4 thru 9 enjoy amusement parlor “Tilt” & “Game Stop” even without “game tokens,” because of their flourish of imagination and positive attitudes ergo senses of self-worth/self-confidence, where they easily/simply make believe they are driving vehicles around curves/dancing/etc., instead of being dejected because they don’t have tokens to play the games. I credit their parents [incl. my daughter] for their tremendous senses of creativity/spontaneity/improvisation/innovation/inventiveness. Remarkable to observe mo’opuna so thoroughly enjoy themselves without “game tokens.”
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http://bible.cc/proverbs/30-27.htm
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http://bible.cc/romans/5-6.htm
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Onofrio aka Norman Clemente, Italian immigrant 65 yrs. old yet drop-dead handsome a la Johnny Depp, is my greatest hero on being open-natured/life enrichment, with Onofrio’s creed of
“love over fear,” where Onofrio intones that once attained, everlasting love always conquers fear [of the unknown]. Or, as my greatest hero on Scripture Mikeki born 1956 evokes, fear is false evidence which masquerades/appears as real/truth. Reflecting especially on hero Onofrio gives me tremendous joy and fulfillment.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne#Hetzel.27s_influence
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4 Forces of Nature — 1) gravity [Isaac Newton — industrial revolution][Einstein’s general relativity][science powers wealth/crash — 1850 rr stock exchange crash]
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2) electromagnetic [Edison — electricity][quantum][utility/auto driven 1929 Great Depression]
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3) weak nuclear force [atom][quantum][high tech wealth transposed to real estate-worthless paper stock 2008 crash][obscure atomic engineer Pakistani AQ Khan stole blueprints for ultracentrifuge/components of atomic bomb & sold these for profit — gave secrets to Pakistan/suspected of selling secrets to Saddam Hussein/Iran/N. Korea/Libya — laser enrichment shall supersede ultracentrifuge, which superseded gaseous diffusion — ultracentrifuge makes up over half of purified uranium for nuclear bomb]
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3 stages of medicine/technology — 1) herbs/aspirin pre-1900
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2) germ eradication/sanitation-hygiene early 20th century
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3) molecular focus — DNA 1953 by Watson & Crick — to date/now [stem cells — mother of all cells — buzzwords because embryo has to be killed — but Shinya Yamanaka is trying to turn adult cells to embryonic stem cells http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/19040101_Obesity_or_stem_cell_research_could_win_Nobel.html] [gene therapy – e.g. P53 gene linked to half of all cancers because P53 gene is long & damaged by environment/chemicals — DNA single strand is 6 ft. long — altered killer T cells can target metastatic melanoma cells][Epic of Gilgamesh reduxed to immortalize youthfulness][resveratol which activates sirtuin protein which delays aging is found in red wine — thence the French eat high calorie foods/fat but live long][Neanderthal Man/Jurassic Park/wooly mammoth are possible in GMO form][carbon dioxide prevents infrared heat from escaping from earth — global warming — worse than CFC from A/C-refridge which deplete Ozone layer to limit UV/xrays][room temperature superconductor which phases out fossil fuel][Jupiter’s Europa moon outside our Goldilocks zone — planets like Earth which aren’t too hot or too cold to sustain life — has liquid ocean under its ice cover — James Cameron’s moon site in 2009 movie “Avatar”][Laser Interferometer Space Antenna — “lisa” — shall measure new type of radiation — gravity waves from the instant of the Big Bang — which foretell multi-verse/parallel universes/etc. — any new form of radiation is a radical paradigm shift/reordering of our science — Galileo’s optical telescope/post-WWII genesis radio telescope of exploding stars-black holes/now gravity waves on possibly our infinite universe][antimatter greatest energy source in our Universe — but atom smashers are unaffordable]
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/science/20dawkins.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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the respect the Beatles have for each other — see the 2nd half of this blip —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ2dCLQu7S8
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the frank/candid interchange between bosom bodies Starr & McCartney — view the last third of this blip–
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9KYQjtSsy8
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George Harrison 1943-2001 [10 yrs. ago — “All Those Years Ago”]
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“Here comes the sun.” “Something.” Good songs [Sinatra called “Something” the greatest mix of pop & jazz]. “All those years ago.” All thanks to composer/Beatle Harrison.
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http://archives.starbulletin.com/2001/11/30/news/story1.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_George_Harrison_songs
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Fields
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alyona_Show
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And on synergy/symbiosis [the kingmaker/strength of the real reason/person behind the leader’s effectiveness — such as Biblical baby brother Andrew to waha-nui blown-up Peter], the Chinese democrat Chou En Lai [lost as battlefield commander to colonialists] ever always had a tense relationship with his autocratic boss Mao [won as battlefield commander over colonialists] — yet Mao used subordinate Chou En Lai for Chou’s tremendous diplomatic/emissary talents-skills.
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Proverbs 16:18
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Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
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Pride goeth before destruction – Here pride is personified: it walks along,
and has destruction in its train.
And a haughty spirit before a fall – Another personification. A haughty
spirit marches on, and ruin comes after.
In this verse we find the following Masoretic note in most Hebrew Bibles. חצי
הספר chatsi hassepher: “the middle of the book.” This verse is the middle verse;
and the first clause makes the middle of the words of the book of Proverbs.
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boorish imperious illuminati —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati#Modern_conspiracy_theory
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/too-big-to-jail_b_1073083.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/opinion/we-are-the-99-9.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/opinion/krugman-things-to-tax.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics#Criticisms
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/opinion/krugman-romneys-economic-closet.html?ref=paulkrugman
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the great Ewan McGregor — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vaSY1aN0qg&feature=related
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson#.22The_God_particle.22
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the outcasts, of society, knowing that
these imperfect ones had a closer affinity
with God, more so than our overproud
self-absorbed decadent socially pretentious
grow in God’s Holiness. His Holiness, is
not outcome dependent for us on earth.
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http://bible.cc/proverbs/16-18.htm
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It’s great to be American that we elect a minority race President [never thought I’d see it in my lifetime]. It’s great to see Americans rally to defend Romney/Huntsman as Mormons, Obama as UCC Christian, vs. vulgar pastor Jeffress of the Southern Baptist Convention. I watched Jeffress over the span of 3 hrs. from the get-go, & Jeffress is so full of himself w/his doctorate in divinity & haughty pride — competely in love with himself — nothing to do with Scripture.
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dedicated to Isaiah Kealoha born 1931 — John 15:16 — you did not choose me — you looked the other way [chose to be without].
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from sage Steven Kalas born 1957 — the most lasting and satisfying human experiences — love, intimacy, serenity, self-knowledge and self-acceptance — are not usually apprehended by ambition.
The human journey — necessary movements into the inner world, to integrate, think, feel, grow.
And, for the lucky ones at the end of life, to hold gratefully, peacefully and dear.
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on comforting a beloved dying person —
But the withdrawal feels like rejection. I urge the man not to personalize what’s happening. I push the man to consider some indirect strategies for connecting, relating and talking. Ask curious, conversational questions about the past. Ask about your father’s life work. His greatest joy. His greatest adventure. Pretend you stumbled across some photographs and, in passing, you had some questions. When a man’s pride barricades the front door, have some fun sneaking in the back door. Some folks’ last words are profound, deeply spiritual, reconciling, moving.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/is-that-any-way-to-die-only-someone-dying-can-decide-137844608.html
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In the case of “The Artist,” silence is not only golden, it’s a reminder of how much you can articulate without words. If you take away the language, green screens and 3-D glasses, the feelings — pride, vanity, envy, fear, love — can be more primary and fascinating.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/dowd-silence-is-golden.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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Matthew 19:24
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And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
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A rich man – This rather means one who loves his riches and makes an idol of
them, or one who supremely desires to be rich. Mark says Mark 10:24 “How hard is it for them
that trust in riches.” While a man has this feeling – relying on his wealth
alone – it is literally impossible that he should be a Christian; for religion
is a love of God rather than the world – the love of Jesus and his cause more
than gold. Still a man may have much property, and not have this feeling. He may
have great wealth, and love God more; as a poor man may have little, and love
that little more than God. The difficulties in the way of the salvation of a
rich man are:
1. that riches engross the affections.
2. that people consider wealth as the chief good, and when this is obtained
they think they have gained all.
3. that they are proud of their wealth, and unwilling to be numbered with the
poor and despised followers of Jesus.
4. that riches engross the time, and fill the mind with cares and anxieties,
and leave little for God.
5. that they often produce luxury, dissipation, and vice. that it is
difficult to obtain wealth without sin, without avarice, without covetousness,
fraud, and oppression, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 6:17; James 5:1-5; Luke 12:16-21; Luke 16:19-31.
Still, Jesus says Matthew 19:26, all
these may be overcome. God can give grace to do it. Though to people it may
appear impossible, yet it is easy for God.
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http://bible.cc/matthew/19-24.htm
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The power of love — a decade anniversary of a truly great movie —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.I._Artificial_Intelligence
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In 2104, global warming has led to melting polar ice caps, flooded coastlines and a drastic reduction of the human population. There is a new class of robots called mechas, advanced humanoids capable of emulating thoughts and emotions. David (Haley Joel Osment), a prototype model created by Cybertronics, is designed to resemble a human child and to display love for its human owners. They test their creation with one of their employees, Henry Swinton (Sam Robards), and his wife Monica (Frances O’Connor). The Swintons’ son, Martin (Jake Thomas), was placed in suspended animation until a cure can be found for his rare disease. Although Monica is initially frightened of David, she eventually warms to him after activating his imprinting protocol, which irreversibly causes David to project love for her, the same as any child would love a parent. He is also befriended by Teddy (Jack Angel), a robotic teddy bear, who takes it upon himself to care for David’s well being.
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A cure is found for Martin and he is brought home; a sibling rivalry ensues between Martin and David. Martin convinces David to go to Monica in the middle of the night and cut off a lock of her hair, but the parents wake up and are very upset. At a pool party, one of Martin’s friends activates David’s self-protection programming by poking him with a knife. David clings to Martin and they both fall into the pool, where heavy David sinks to the bottom while still clinging to Martin. Martin is saved from drowning, but Henry in particular is shocked by David’s actions. Henry persuades Monica to return David to Cybertronics, where David will be destroyed. However, on the way Monica decides to abandon David in the forest (alongside Teddy) to hide as an unregistered mecha instead of being destroyed. David is captured for an anti-mecha Flesh Fair, an event where obsolete mechas are destroyed in front of cheering crowds. David is nearly killed, but the crowd is swayed by his realistic nature (David, unlike other mechas, pleads for his life) and he escapes, along with Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), a male prostitute mecha on the run after being framed for murder.
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The two set out to find the Blue Fairy, whom David remembers from the story The Adventures of Pinocchio. He is convinced that the Blue Fairy will transform him into a human boy, allowing Monica to love him and take him home. Joe and David make their way to Rouge City. Information from a holographic answer engine called “Dr. Know” (Robin Williams) eventually leads them to the top of the Rockefeller Center in the flooded ruins of Manhattan. They use a flying submersible vehicle called an amphibicopter they stole from police, who are still chasing Joe. David meets his human creator, Professor Hobby (William Hurt), who excitedly tells David that finding him was a test, which has demonstrated the reality of his love and desire. It also becomes clear that many copies of David are already being manufactured, along with female versions. David sadly realizes he is not unique. A disheartened David attempts to commit suicide by falling from a ledge into the ocean, but Joe rescues him with the amphibicopter. David tells Joe he saw the Blue Fairy underwater, and wants to go down to her. At that moment, Joe is captured by the authorities with the use of an electromagnet. David and Teddy take the amphibicopter to the fairy, which turns out to be a statue from a submerged attraction at Coney Island. Teddy and David become trapped when the Wonder Wheel falls on their vehicle. Believing the Blue Fairy to be real, David asks to be turned into a real boy, repeating his wish without end, until the ocean freezes and his internal power source drains away.
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2,000 years later, humans are extinct and Manhattan is buried under several hundred feet of sea ice. Mechas have evolved into a highly advanced alien-looking humanoid form. They find David and Teddy and discover they are functional mechas who knew living humans, making them special and unique. David is revived and walks to the frozen Blue Fairy statue, which cracks and collapses as he touches it. Having received and comprehended his memories, the advanced mechas use them to reconstruct the Swinton home and explain to David via an interactive image of the Blue Fairy (Meryl Streep) that it is not possible to make him human. However, at David’s insistence, they recreate Monica from DNA in the lock of her hair which had been saved by Teddy. Unfortunately, she can only live for a single day and the process cannot be repeated. David spends the happiest day of his life with Monica and Teddy, and Monica tells David that she loves him and has always loved him as she drifts to sleep for the final time. David lies down next to her, closes his eyes and goes “to that place where dreams are born.”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7MRjbAatv4&feature=related
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A 12-year-old Mongolian boy- Uudam (乌达木 Wudamu in Chinese) who lost his parents at the age of 8 in a road accident singing the song-“Mother in the Dream” (梦中的额吉) to his mother in heaven. He seldom talks about his story but when he misses his mother, he will sing this song. Besides, he always dream about his mother, sitting beside him.
The song is in Mongolian, therefore, not everyone can understand the lyrics. However, his singing touched every judge and the audience in the hall without the understanding of the lyrics. He sang out all his love and thoughts to his mother.
A touching song, performed by a boy who got a sad story behind, a voice comes from far Mongolia sending his thoughts to his mother in heaven. A great performance by a 12-year-old boy! He got an interesting and beautiful dream which is to invent a kind of ink that just needs a drop to drop on the ground, the whole world will cover with green grass. one more thing to add, his mother wished to see his singing on the stage when she was alive.
the translation of lyrics as below:
In the stillness among the vast lands
I dream of Mother praying for me
She looks afar and gives precious milk to the heavens
As offering for my well-being
My Mother, so far away.
Stars twinkle above the grasslands while
In my dream I see Mother’s caring face
As she prays to the heavens to wish me godspeed My Mother, so far away.
In my dream I see Home basking in golden sunbeam
While Mother softly sings an enchanting melody
There in the grasslands lies my everlasting home
My dearest Mother, wait for my return.
My dearest Mother, wait for my return.
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also, … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elephant_Man_(film) That night, back at the hospital, Merrick thanks Treves for all he has done and finishes his model of the nearby church. Imitating one of his sketches on the wall—a sleeping child—he removes the pillows that have allowed him to sleep in an upright position, lies down on his bed and dies, consoled by a vision of his mother, Mary Jane Merrick, quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson‘s “Nothing will Die.”
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Nothing Will Die
by Alfred Lord Tennyson
When will the stream be aweary of flowing
Under my eye?
When will the wind be aweary of blowing
Over the sky?
When will the clouds be aweary of fleeting?
When will the heart be aweary of beating?
And nature die?
Never, oh! never, nothing will die;
The stream flows,
The wind blows,
The cloud fleets,
The heart beats,
Nothing will die.
Nothing will die;
All things will change
Thro’ eternity.
‘Tis the world’s winter;
Autumn and summer
Are gone long ago;
Earth is dry to the centre,
But spring, a new comer,
A spring rich and strange,
Shall make the winds blow
Round and round,
Thro’ and thro’,
Here and there,
Till the air
And the ground
Shall be fill’d with life anew.
The world was never made;
It will change, but it will not fade.
So let the wind range;
For even and morn
Ever will be
Thro’ eternity.
Nothing was born;
Nothing will die;
All things will change.
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from sweetheart Carol Ludloff Arnold — Thank you for sharing–truly interesting!
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from sage Steven Kalas –
I mean that, once the unlovely story is told, I find that I don’t keep track of the unlovely story. When, by chance, I should cross paths with former acquaintances years later, I’m not focused on the mistakes and failures. I often don’t remember them. What I celebrate is the courageous way patients have embraced those unlovely events and turned them into redemption, humility, creativity, gratitude, and commitments to live with integrity and meaning.
You don’t have to be a counselor or a priest to accept a pilgrim’s entrustment of some personal darkness or gaping vulnerability. Real friends do this. Loving family does this. It is our honor to guard these treasures, and take them quietly to our graves.
Think about the people who have and are faithfully guarding your treasures, and be grateful.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/confidentiality-helps-create-sacred-space-of-trust-139177164.html
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wonderful scribe Kathleen Parker on humility amid pain of loss —
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We’ve seen it again and again in concession and farewell speeches. Al Gore was never more splendid than when he conceded to George W. Bush in 2000. The pain and humility of that moment were palpable, and even Gore’s critics couldn’t help but be struck by the power of his grace. Where had that man been?
Ditto John Kerry. And, now, ditto Romney. The moral of the story isn’t that one must lose to win, but that one try to harness the spoils of loss for the road to victory. Those spoils are humility, grace and the freedom to be one’s true self.
In real life, Romney cares about the very poor and spent his missionary years trying to help the less fortunate. To those who know him, he is kind, generous and humble. If Romney could summon the man he is in his quiet time, unhaunted by the cliches of political wizardry, Americans might find that they like him after all.
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My favorite interviewer Brian Lamb of C-Span Q & A, at a loss for words with new age prodigy Michelle Fields, precocious great videographer journalist –
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http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/27/thedcs-michelle-fields-discusses-journalism-in-the-new-media-age/
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from great sage Donald Barnes born 1944 —
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Predestination has no agency/choice, whereas foreordination has free will, though God foreordains that Eve picks the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and Adam & Eve then procreate and test their/progeny’s agency. God foreordains a contradiction as a test of humanity’s faith and obedience in God. If symbolized on a heat spectrum, predestination is at one end [infrared], vs. foreordination at the opposite end [UV].
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As Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl 1905-1997 intones,
“The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire.
Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human
thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.
I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss,
be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position
of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his
only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way—an
honorable way—in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the
image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life
I was able to understand the meaning of the words, “The angels are lost in
perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory….”
Heartbreaking yet climactically most beautiful!
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“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.” Frankl [Hebrews 9:16]
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110309150844AAH1M9h
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/frankl/fr…
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea…
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The phrase “the only meaning” suggests that our actions do not possess any greater purposes than to love and to be loved, sine qua non — raison d’ etre.
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Wilder’s “the only meaning” is analogous to great sage Viktor Frankl’s “the angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.”
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Hebrews 13:2
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Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
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The Bible tells us 366 times – providing even for a leap year! – not to be afraid “The Lord will guard your going and your coming both now and forever.” (Psalm 121 v.8)
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“A heart to love, and in that heart, the courage to make love known.”
Shakespeare’s “MacBeth”
So deep!! In the most beautiful way!!
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Great scribe Kathleen Parker on cop-out coward [Newt Gingrich] over repose/reflection [victimized dumped-off former wife Marianne] —
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Just as John King had no choice but to ask, Gingrich answered in the only way he could — by attacking the questioner. Shooting the messenger is a time-honored method of spin control among royals and their imitators. Gingrich’s bilious reproach was an oratorical defenestration. King’s audacity was “despicable,” he intoned, and the [conservative GOP] crowd roared.
Suddenly, Gingrich’s questionable past was forgotten, and whatever ire his record might have inspired was redirected at The Media — that monolithic target of communal contempt. Not only did Gingrich deflect attention from his immediate problem, but he managed to win [that my-nyoot segment of] the public’s heart. He may not have shifted the entire planet, as he described the object of his ambition in 1985, but he managed to secure his rising momentum in the state [South Carolina] that consistently selects the Republican presidential nominee.
People who know Gingrich, and certainly those enemies who convinced Marianne Gingrich that she should step forward for the good of the country, must have wondered how things could go so wrong. How could they have miscalculated that Gingrich’s greatest liability could become his greatest strength? They did not, as one might first suppose, underestimate the public’s disdain for the media. Very likely they share it. What they forgot were the lessons wrought by Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and the power of projection.
In a nutshell: The more you pick on a person for human failings with which all can identify, the more likely you will create sympathy rather than antipathy, especially if that individual has been forthright in his confession and penitent for his transgression, as Gingrich has been. He was ahead of the curveball this time, with nothing left to tell or for his aggrieved former wife to expose. Thus, her interview and the King question had the feel not of revelation but of a political hit aided and abetted by a salacious press.
Even Bill Clinton, who was less forthcoming and therefore, at least initially, less sympathetic, came to be viewed as a victim following months of investigation and the airing of sordid details only voyeurs could enjoy. Starr, as King, was merely doing his job, yet he became less likable than Clinton among Regular Joes watching television in their kitchens. However nobly Republicans may have considered their mission, everyday Americans — particularly men — saw persecution.
A Catholic friend captures the operative sentiment in terms Gingrich surely would appreciate. When she sees someone succumb to temptation or betray some other human frailty, she says: “I have those weeds in my garden.”
To err is human; to forgive divine. We like that way of thinking because we all need others’ forgiveness. When Gingrich turned to his audience and said that we all know pain — we all know people who have suffered pain — he instantly morphed from sinner to savior, the redeemer in chief. He correctly counted on the empathy of his fellow man, if not necessarily womankind, and won the moment.
But a moment is just that, and projection of the sort experienced by the Charleston, S.C., audience can be fraught with peril. Over-identification clouds judgment, and, though we are all sinners, we are not all running for president of the United States. Gingrich’s sins of the flesh ultimately are of less importance than the narcissism and grandiosity that compel his actions. [An operative moment cracking open this man’s nature]
Voters would do well to think less of what they would do in his shoes than what Gingrich will do, should he win the prize. As the reality of his astonishing self-regard sinks in and one imagines where his unflagging certitude might lead, it is less easy to identify with the weeds in his garden. As projection falters, empathy finds no place to land.
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Draped in Tiffany diamonds, Callista is the embodiment of the divide between Gingrich’s public piety and private immorality.
Gingrich’s communications director, Joe DeSantis, has airbrushed Callista’s Wikipedia page 23 times since 2008, often to banish unflattering details from the site, according to BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski.
DeSantis edited the introduction, taking out the fact that she is “the third wife of,” and excising the sentence, “She met her husband while he was in the House, and had an affair while he was conducting the impeachment investigation for President Bill Clinton.”
As The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza reported, the top Google search for Gingrich in Florida during the primary there was “Callista,” right up there with “Newt wives” and “Newt scandals.”
That may be why she has a largely nonspeaking role in the campaign, as silent as the slender heroine of “The Artist,” even though Newt relays that she has described herself as a hybrid of Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush and Jackie Kennedy. The campaign does not want to remind voters that the relationship, portrayed as so redemptive, was born in sin and hypocrisy.
There’s always a chance, of course, that Callista is not staring so intently at Newt to make him feel more Napoleonic. Maybe she just doesn’t want to let him out of her sight.
As the maxim goes, “When a man marries his mistress, he creates a job opening.”
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radically open to love and to be loved — from sage Steven Kalas born 1957 —
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Or you learn that, in love and respect, your passionate differences become a begrudging respect that strengthens the bond of your relationship.
We don’t get to decide when we fall in love. Or with whom. And falling in love has a way of further honing your list of non-negotiables. Specifically, it distinguishes between what truly can’t be negotiated (infidelity, domestic violence) and what was just posturing on your list as arrogance and ego-defense.
Take a long look at your life partner. Give thanks for those attributes that, had you been in charge of the universe, you would never have looked for, desired or chosen. Instead, love chose you and said, “Surprise!”
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the most pervasive affliction amid humanity’s condition — unforgiveness [pride/jealousy/etc.] dedicated to loveliest Mikeki, our heartstopper Sarah of Scripture —
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http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/2-6.htm
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1 Corinthians 2:6
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–Be not of this world–
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“How be it we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought.”
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That come to naught – That is, whose plans fail; whose wisdom vanishes; and who themselves, with all their pomp and splendor, come to nothing in the grave; compare Isaiah 14. All the plans of human wisdom shall fail; and this which is originated by God only shall stand,
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http://bible.cc/matthew/8-22.htm
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Matthew 8:22
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“But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”
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A body in the grave is unaffected by the pomp and vanity, by the gaiety and revelry, by the ambition and splendor that may be near the tomb. So people of the world are dead to religion. They see not its beauty, hear not its voice, are not won by its loveliness. This is the class of people to which the Saviour refers here. Let people, says he, who are uninterested in my work, and who are “dead in sin” Ephesians 2:1, take care of the dead. Your duty is now to follow me.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/anticipatory-grief-fails-to-prepare-or-comfort-132399368.html
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Anticipatory grief is what we humans do. It’s what the ego does to protect itself. But, the truth is, anticipatory grief is not all that effective in achieving its hoped-for goals. I recall the character of Aurora, played by Shirley MacLaine in the 1983 movie “Terms of Endearment.” Aurora’s daughter is dying of cancer. In her last moments of life, the daughter waves wordlessly to her mother, sitting vigil in the hospital room. The camera watches Aurora’s face react to the moment of her daughter’s passing. The nurse comes in to confirm what is obvious. And, after choking on several broken syllables and sentence fragments, Aurora speaks for all of us when she says, incredulously, “I don’t know why you tell yourself that you’re ready.”
You see, there is no getting ready. No getting prepared. Not for love. Not for death. Not for grief. These things just happen to us. These things just take us, willing or unwilling, wherever they will. When they will. As they will. Life has its way with us. No one outthinks it. Or outsmarts it.
What we’re invited to do, of course, is to live it. To pour our lives out — brazenly, passionately — like fine wine. To remember that only great wine poured out can ever be great.
“You understand, I hope, that I’m going to ‘lose it’ when he dies,” she says to me, warning us both, and perhaps floating the question of what she might expect from me.
“I know,” is all I say in return.
Easier for me, of course. I already “see” her on the other side of her suffering, with a heart grown much stronger and larger because of her courageous tears. On the other side of grief, I see her father’s love made still stronger in death. A bond made paradoxically closer yet roomier. Freer. Liberating.
Then she will honor his legacy by forging her own.
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Leave the (spiritual) dead to bury the (physical) dead” (Fitzmyer 1981: 836; Liefeld 1984: 935).
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In addition to its biblical context stated above it is also used my Marx in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Marx uses it in the context of the social revolution of the 19th century. He utilizes this biblical quote to emphasize the idea that the revolution must not rely on the social models of the past in order to derive its roots, but rather must reject all past illusions (such as religion or bureaucracy) and instead build itself in the present as a modern revolution that springs forth a new system that does posses the faults of past constructs. So in a sense Marx is calling upon the new revolution to remove itself from the historical patterns that have led to the reoccurring rise of the bourgeois. In this sense “let the dead bury the dead” means let the flawed bourgeois social systems die once and for all for their repetitive flaws (let the dead just die, do not keep resurrecting them in the present social system) (Marx 1852: 595)
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http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_’let_the_dead_bury_their_dead’#ixzz1iLLRU3Si
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http://bible.cc/romans/8-28.htm
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“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
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For good – For our solace, comfort, and peace in our hearts.
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http://bible.cc/2_timothy/3-14.htm
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2 Timothy 3:14
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what things I am afraid — I trust in Thee
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“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”
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But continue thou – No man, however well instructed in the things of God, or grounded in Divine grace, is out of the reach of temptation, apostasy, and final ruin; hence the necessity of watching unto prayer, depending upon God, continuing in the faith, and persevering unto the end. Everlasting life.
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http://www.joycemeyer.org/articles/ea.aspx?article=the_poison_of_unforgiveness
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of dearest Mikeki, our heartstopper Sarah of Scripture —
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1 Corinthians 1:26-27 — Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful, so the same God chose those who reside in the forsaken social margins.
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1 Corinthians 2:6
–Be not of this world– [be of the spiritual dimension, with comfort & solace & companionship with thy Lord]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCgAOQTxSuE
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—– Original Message —–From: CurtSubject: Mikeki’s TLC gifts to Fukushima Japan tsunami victims!!Trinkets can be given in Marian’s discretion to the 25 children who will come to O’ahu from Japan via JAL sponsorship. Two others boxes are clothes/toys. All 3 boxes consist of new items. Denise/Marian can inspect all 3 boxes. Arigato gosaimashta, Marian!!
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From: marian
To: Maui Taiko & Curt (Mikeki)
Subject: Re: Fukushima tsunami victims — children & their families
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:52
Marian Moriguchi, Director
Assist-One Co., Ltd.
7-8-3 Horai-cho, Fukushima City,
Fukushima Prefecture 960-8157 JAPAN
TEL&FAX: 024-548-5800
MOBILE: 090-4551-0667 (cell)
—– Original Message —–From: Maui Taiko [Kay Fukumoto]To: Curt & MikekiCc: Marian AngelSent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 1:45 AMSubject: RE: Fukushima tsunami victims — children & their familiesHi Curtis (Mikeki) and Marian,
I wanted to connect both of you. Curtis, Marian is my terrific friend who lives in Fukushima who does so much for those affected by the disasters.
Marian, Curtis is helping Mikeki (see message below) to find people to give her Hello Kitty trinkets to.
Curtis, Marian just took some items to a shelter – here was her message to me.
On Sunday, I just went to distribute knitted caps with Honolulu Fukushima Kenjin-kai board member, Eileen Clarke and her sister.
Her church, Makiki Christian Church, donated handmade caps and we took them to the temporary housing in Nihonmatsu which is between Koriyama and Fukushima The people were all from Namie. So, we would have to know how many items there are and the town office will decide which temporary housing I should take the items.
If Mikeki can wait, I will be going to Hawaii on a short trip in December — I can bring them back with me, so she wouldn’t need to spend money for the postage. If she can wait, she can mail the items to me at:
Marian Moriguchi
Honolulu, HI
Thanks again you three for helping the people of Fukushima!
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To: Kay of Maui Taiko
Subject: Fukushima tsunami victims — children & their families
Konnichiwa, Kay Fukumoto! My lovely pal Mikeki wants to donate/give her Mikeki’s Hello Kitty trinkets etc. for the Fukushima children. Arigato gozaimashta. –Curt
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Mikeki’s higher truths [the spiritual/metaphysical plane] are 1) Mikeki’s irrepressible courage 2) Mikeki’s utterly clean heart 3) Mikeki’s prophecy [gift of the spirit from Heavenly Father to her]. Clearly, absent courage — nothing else matters. But the rarest truth is Mikeki’s gift of prophecy [sixth sense/”intuition”]. Mikeki’s earthly talents are 1) Mikeki’s open nature [open-minded ] 2) Mikeki’s entrepreneurial backdrop [fiscal responsibility hand in hand with the Social Gospel] 3) Mikeki’s keen powers of observation/anticipation.
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Art [a higher truth like prophecy] consists of 1) inner strength/voice 2) mystery 3) humor [humor is the rarest art]. Sage Steven Kalas born 1957 intones that the ability to be radically open to the wholeness of the human experience has rich benefits. An open gestalt [full form] can generate vitality and more personal freedom. It invites greater authenticity. Respecting the value of being human includes noticing the absurdity of being human. Ironic, especially when you consider that no one comes to question life who isn’t suffering. Which is why irony is the subtler, deeper art, vs. satire. But, seen another way, humor is an ally for those who suffer. When humor is therapeutic and a positive completion, it opens a chain of wonderful possibilities. Humor, at once, creates a space of psychological safety and it evokes vulnerability. This is important, because we all come to terms/points in our lives to explore great vulnerabilities, but great vulnerabilities are more likely to emerge freely and undamaged in the safety humor provides. Said clinically, humor opens a gestalt. It cranks us open.
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Humor as therapy makes unhelpful psychological defenses less necessary. It creates a “spontaneous honesty” that often surprises us all. There’s a sense of “Wow … did I just say that?” Yep, you did. And it was pretty funny. Because it was true. Humor coaxes a liberating humility. Amusing self-deprecation is a terrific antidote for murderous self-loathing. A happy human being laughs often and easy at him/herself. There is something so freeing about noticing that we are ridiculous. Contradicted. Conflicted. Humor provides a way to effectively manage ambivalence. Used with intention, humor can creatively ventilate the mixed feelings that all of us have about important, close relationships in our lives. Humor can turn ambivalence into playfulness/delightfulness between ourselves and those we love, making it less likely that the ambivalence becomes passive-aggressive, or actually hostile and aggressive.
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Humor is Truth. Over and over again. If you’re laughing about it, it’s nearly certain that you’ve got your finger on something real and authentic about you.
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Once we are “cranked open” by humor, we have a better chance at reconstructing the way we see ourselves, others and circumstances. We have more choices. Humor brings a needed perspective to the unflagging persistence of selfhood before us.
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Mikeki is our Marco Polo, having been Steve Jobs’ subject of attraction/date [he was too hyped up/high-strung for Mikeki’s nature] & having been a peer & great friend of tremendous conservationist & altruist Rex Weyler — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Weyler#Greenpeace
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http://lindaellis.net/the-dash/
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Not_Taken_(poem)
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The Road Not Taken” is a poem by Robert Frost, published in 1915 in the collection Mountain Interval. It is the first poem in the volume and is printed in italics. The title is often mistakenly given as “The Road Less Traveled“, from the penultimate line: “I took the one less traveled by.”
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Wikisourcehas original text related to this article: |
- I took the one less traveled by,
- And that has made all the difference.
cannot be taken literally : whatever difference the choice might have made, it could not have been made on the non-conformist or individualist basis of one road’s being less traveled, the speaker’s protestations to the contrary. The speaker admits in the second and third stanzas that both paths may be equally worn and equally leaf-covered, and it is only in his future recollection that he will call one road “less traveled by.”
The sigh can be interpreted as one of regret or of self-satisfaction; in either case, the irony lies in the distance between what the speaker has just told us about the roads’ similarity and what his or her later claims will be. Frost might also have intended a personal irony; in a 1926 letter to Cristine Yates of Dickson, Tennessee, asking about the sigh, Frost replied, “It was my rather private jest at the expense of those who might think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had taken in life.”
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_A_Balm_In_Gilead
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suq3mMbPLGc&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kv5KfkF7fo&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfX5_K5o1iU&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SZsep69VMs&feature=related
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the mind-bending nature of the deepest art of irony —
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I watched Herman Cain’s live unedited press conference where he disavowed involvement with the sexual assault/harassment victims. His nearly total “amnesia” denying knowledge of the victims, except for petite 5’2″ Karen Kraushaar where he commented on her height, manifested total lack of veracity/believability in his denials.
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On heartstopper gorgeous Ginger White born 1965, here is sage Steven Kalas born 1957 with words of wisdom vs. Ginger White —
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Here is a suggested guideline for the responsible use of “coming forward”: Learn the differences regarding evil, crime and sin.
All evil includes sin, but not all sin is evil. Crime most often includes sin, but not all sin is criminal. And, occasionally, it’s a sin not to commit a crime.
If you know of an evil, then come forward. We have no higher moral duty than to not participate in evil through complicit silence. Evil should be named, no matter the cost to oneself.
If you know of a crime, then call the police.
But if all you know is that some ordinary human is ordinarily broken in ordinary human weakness, and you decided of your own accord to bring your ordinary brokenness and ordinary weakness to have a romp with that person, then tell me again: What exactly are you doing on my television?
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/reasons-for-coming-forward-don-t-always-make-sense-134985208.html
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Yes, Stephen Hawking & atheists correctly say that we have only one chance — our mortal lives — to make a difference for the better for all living things. Correctly make the best of it.
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And that if we happen to be martyrs/exemplars [e.g. Holocaust victims] for the good side of humanity by being disincentives to human barbarism/savagery, at least we take comfort in manifesting the olive branch to avert recurrence of the evil/indifference/selfishness inherent in us all.
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Life also is a challenge regardless of our evil human condition – nature’s calamities beset us all on this earth — so that Hawking & atheists correctly say to minimize the risks of injury/death via our inherent good cognition and to tough it out as best as we can. Such risks are facts of life, so to speak.
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I like my alltime hero Steven Kalas’ soothing thoughts [God as our omnipotent Savior] –
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Mercy is a sublime human virtue. Becoming human means putting a bridle on the animal instinct to attack vulnerability. It means that, when our antagonist has dropped his sword and shield, bows before us and asks for another chance, we give a “thumbs up.” We allow sincere remorse to gentle us instead of provoke us to increased aggression.
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In the Hebrew creation myth, Adam and Eve disobey God and realize, much to their humiliation, that they are naked. They cover their nakedness with itchy, coarse fig leaves and then hide from God in a tree. They are ridiculous. God shows up. And, yes, there are consequences for the disobedience. Difficult consequences. But even the consequences are wrapped in mercy. The last thing God does is give Adam and Eve soft animal skins to wear. In compassion, He lets them cover their nakedness. He probably even averts his eyes while they are changing out of their fig leaves. That was nice of God.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/by-accepting-i-m-sorry-we-show-our-sublime-humanity-136899918.html
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person of remarkable cognition & composure Nani Kyota –
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I would love to be an angel and spread love and comfort to all those in need. I don’t want to be a God myself. I will take whatever job that comes my way. All I want is to be able to live with God and my family throughout eternity.
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I am so very grateful to have the knowledge of eternity and for the many blessings that it affords. My goal this year & forever more is to be grateful in each and every situation that comes my way and hopefully be an example and an inspiration to others to do the same.
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God bless you my friend,
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Nani
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Nani’s response above is to this thought –
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Yes, Stephen Hawking & atheists correctly say that we have only one chance — our mortal lives — to make a difference for the better for all living things. Correctly make the best of it.
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And that if we happen to be martyrs/exemplars [e.g. Holocaust victims] for the good side of humanity by being disincentives to human barbarism/savagery, at least we take comfort in manifesting the olive branch to avert recurrence of the evil/indifference/selfishness inherent in us all.
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Life also is a challenge regardless of our evil human condition – nature’s calamities beset us all on this earth — so that Hawking & atheists correctly say to minimize the risks of injury/death via our inherent good cognition and to tough it out as best as we can. Such risks are facts of life, so to speak.
Redemptive suffering means to grace/forgive a plight/fate/person for your self-sufferance which averts another person from suffering, typified by Scripture’s Hath No Greater Love than to Lay Down One’s Life for Another. John 15:13
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Traditional Catholicism’s redemptive suffering about punishment and more punishment wholly is off the mark. This is the Vatican’s spool to rope you in for indulgences/money. Its golden rule is whoever has the gold rules, straight from our Pontiff’s pulpit.
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Dostoevsky dives into the dual nature of suffering — orthodox Catholic punishment, and Dostoevsky’s Sonya as the whore/saint who suffers because of and for others, and thus becomes most Christ-like as Sonya Grows in His Holiness, no matter her social standing/economic status on our mortal plane.
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Magnanimous Viktor Frankl’s exemplar of the old man who finally realizes that his suffering the loss of his lifelong dearest companion wife allows her not to suffer if her husband had died before her — releases this husband from his misery and pain of losing his wife. He suffers because of and for his departed wife, and such suffering finally is accepted with tremendous equanimity by the heretofore tormented husband. Redemptive suffering.
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And as with extraordinary sage Steven Kalas’ example about his biological father who gave up Steven born 1957 and his older sister for adoption to Steven’s biological mother and her new husband when Steven was just one year old, to afford Steven and his sister a better life with Steven’s biological mother & adoptive father — at which time Steven’s biological dad chose a vasectomy — THIS WAS THE HIGHER/DEEPER TRUTH!! It broke dad’s heart to lose his children. And so he made certain he never would be a father again. The Ultimate Disguised Blessing is that Steven’s biological dad’s vasectomy exemplified/suffused of redemptive suffering a la Dostoevsky’s Sonya/Frankl’s exemplar of the old man.
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So if you have a choice between redemption/forgiveness and bitterness, choose redemption, no matter how difficult emotionally it is.
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Just the same, cogent Nani evokes of Biblical David, that David lamented incessantly over the death of his infant son, interceding/
interposing that David desired that David’s life end so that his infant son lives, to no avail. But voila! As suddenly as death came, so suddenly did God expiate/purge David of David’s guilt/remorse, God allowing Grace upon David, so that David was able to forgive himself. Of course, God had much greater plans for David, such that among our most auspicious passages in Scripture is God reposing in, “Look at David, he’s after God’s [My] Heart!! 1 Samuel 14 [A Man After My Own Heart]
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If ever you have the choice between redemption and bitterness, shower rainbows of redemption. Love never ends, here or in the afterlife. For now and for always, with love –Curt
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According to Frankl, “We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering,” and that “everything can be taken from a person but one thing: The last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” On the meaning of suffering, Frankl gives the following example:
Once, an elderly general practitioner consulted me because of his severe depression. He could not overcome the loss of his wife who had died two years before and whom he had loved above all else. Now how could I help him? What should I tell him? I refrained from telling him anything, but instead confronted him with a question, “What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?” “Oh,” he said, “for her this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!” Whereupon I replied, “You see, Doctor, such a suffering has been spared her, and it is you who have spared her this suffering; but now, you have to pay for it by surviving and mourning her.” He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left the office.— Viktor Frankl**
Frankl emphasized that realizing the value of suffering is meaningful only when the first two creative possibilities are not available [for example, in a concentration camp] and only when such suffering is inevitable – he was not proposing that people suffer unnecessarily.
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And on redemptive suffering as Irony, note the understandable sentient self-lamentation of Earl Dean Edmoundson born 1945 –
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Need I mutter exemplar ergo impossible irony??? — Patton’s feared foe Rommel orders dossier on Patton — Rommel’s aide spills nonsense [schooling/creds/awards] – Rommel exclaims, “The Man — who is Patton!!??” Aide meekly recounts, “Well, Patton swears all the time — but he prays to God at night.” Rommel convulses, “Oh my God, such a conflicted man!! He has nothing to lose!! I must destroy Patton before he destroys me!!” Macho males would revulse at a prayin’ man, dismissing a prayin’ man as a pussy/panty-arse. Not so amid the deepest unction of irony!! As to “turn the other cheek” & “when you give, it is given to you???” Biblical pundit Dean Edmoundson of Honomu [Ishigo Bakery] painted for free his brethren’s church in Puna — didn’t even get a common courtesy thank you from its pastor — and subsequently Dean fumed and steamed for a week over such idiotic disregard of Dean’s “giving” — well, as Jesus would have it, Dean’s wife June [the strength in the household] comforted Dean & intoned that God works in mysterious ways — “turn the other cheek” by forgiving the so-called insolent pastor, and Dean’s “giving” is not in vain because Jesus rejoices at Dean’s unction/giving spirit, as do the Puna congregation members [Dean is a head deacon at the Honomu Living Waters Church 40 miles northbound] — and as June so lovingly evokes, maybe God meant for Dean not to get a thank you from the Puna pastor — to test Dean’s strength of belief in God — that when you give, don’t “be of this world,” i.e,. the blessing is that you give for your love of God, not to get a thank you “of this earth.” And maybe, even maybe, the Puna pastor tested Dean’s strength by looking “to see” if Dean would end up sore & hurt incessantly. Maybe?! Only God knows. Children of God — innocent in Jesus’ eyes. See how irony cuts “right to the chase,” so to speak??
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Reprise 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 — Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful, so the same God chose those who reside in the forsaken social margins. In Dean Edmoundson’s case, those who reside in the forsaken social margins in Puna might benefit from Dean’s painting of their church!
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not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind.”
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The opportunity to tell the story of our suffering to a compassionate and skillful listener is helpful beyond measure. Simply in the telling and retelling, we begin to shift perspective, to put a healing distance between us and the pain.
Medals of honor, funerals, statues and monuments, ritual mourning, legacy, keepsakes — we are symbolic creatures, and our symbols help us to embrace and transcend our suffering.
Many people discover meaning in suffering as they work to redeem their suffering in service to the world. And so the alcoholic becomes an AA sponsor. The mother whose child is killed by a drunken driver becomes an activist with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The mercenary becomes a naturalist. The victim of child abuse becomes a marriage and family counselor. And so it goes.
Sometimes we suffer as a testimony against injustice. We decide to suffer as a way of absorbing the cost of hatred and bearing witness against the insanity of revenge. Or sometimes we willingly suffer for the sake of endurance alone. That is, as a witness to the goodness of life.
Suffering as a fact of life embraces an intention and willingness to be radically open and present to life as life is — joyous or sorrowful, delightful or painful.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/lifes-journey-includes-pain-of-suffering-69506497.html
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from magnanimous Carol Ludloff Arnold — Thanks as always, for these beautiful recollections, as wonderful Nani Kyota shares here [above]!!
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Don’t you have something to offer in terms of your own life experiences akin to Jesus’ Parable/Pericope [reversal of convention/a confounding Truth which reveals a disguised blessing for us all]?? Aloha! –Curt
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Our Issei [first generation] immigrants from Japan had their creed of giri [serve justly] ninjo [humanity]. Japan samurai were split by these incompatible notions. Our Nisei [second generation] 100th Batt./442nd warriors such as my dad Toshi 1913-1998 had their creed of kuni no ta-may [serve our U.S.A. faithfully and courageously — all in — “go for broke, bruddah!”].
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_cinema#Themes
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A recurring conflict the ideal samurai encounters is the ninjo and giri conflict. Ninjo is the human feeling that tells you what is right and giri is the obligation of the samurai to his lord and clan. The conflict originated from overwhelming control of the Tokugawa bakufu government over the samurai’s behavior. Often samurai would question the morality of their actions and are torn between duty and conscience. This conflict transcends eras in samurai films and can create the perception of the protagonist as being the moral underdog or steadfast warrior. In The Last Samurai, Katsumoto is no longer of use to his emperor and sentenced to self-disembowelment. He goes against his duty to follow through with his sentence and flees to fight his final rebellion against the central government’s army. Ninjo and giri conflict is dynamic to the character of the samurai.
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yamato damashii [corazon/kokoro/heart!]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8NuBMkUja6A
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvjupggOMDM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKjN6wLj7Eg
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1uCsxTccfk&feature=related
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Thanks always, Denise Takashima, for your everlasting optimism and positive attitude.
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Irony, reversal, and frustration of expectations illustrate opposites or impossibilities which tie in knots our social conventions. Not just the Parables but also the Beatitudes feature counterintuitively the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that are characteristic of Christ e.g. — Love thy enemy — What kind of neighbor are you to the new folks next door? — Turn the other cheek.
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Denise Takashima is jesus incarnate. Here is KL Ching on Denise, who confounds male chauvinists —
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“Your mom was an extraordinary woman — talented, creative and sentimental. I can see her influence on you as a parent. This is where you get your strength as an independent woman (sorry for the gender reference). Your father’s martial arts orientation is stamped on your DNA and has also been a major influence on you. Your creative mind overcomes any resistance to change. Curtis credits you for seeking social and cultural change. That’s impressive.”
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What Jesus prescribes in the samaritan parable of Matthew 25:40 is disinterested, self-giving care for the “other” [agape]. We are to act on behalf of those who have needs and who reside along the social margins [the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned].
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On real time forgiveness, note the instance of the man who accidentally spills a bowl of chicken soup on another man. The other man is aghast, then lets out the amazing Grace of a punchline – “Well, at least I love the comforting sense of chicken soup!!” Wow!!
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Jesus always embraced the reproached,
the outcasts, of society, knowing that
these imperfect ones had a closer affinity
with God, more so than the overproud
sentients full of contemptuous opinions and
scathing comments vs. others.
To Jesus, imperfection is beautiful, as we
grow in God’s Holiness. His Holiness, is
not outcome dependent for us on earth.
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Ode to my Dad —
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“I sat beside him as he died. And now he sits inside my
heart as I live my life, without him but with him. Love you, Dad, — Patti.”
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Love you, gang.
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Dearest Patti’s reminiscences —“Dad lives in me on the edge of dreams. He lives in the regrets I carry of my rebellious years and the hurt I caused Dad , which he allowed and blew away like dust. My sweet memories of Dad keep me afloat. There was a moment, midway through the Alzheimers which clawed away years, when I was leaving him and I said to Dad, ‘Bye for now, I love you!’ His eyes opened wide in surprise and he said, ‘Well, thank you, thank you so much!’ Dad had no idea who I was. He was startled and typically gracious about another human being telling him she loved him. I don’t know if I will ever reach that level of grace, but I’m grateful for having been born to a man who did. Moments like this revealed what was most essential about Dad — his graciousness, his kindness toward others, his gratitude and his humility. Dad carried in his pocket a coin which says ‘let go and let God.’ I keep it now in a box on my dresser. I don’t know where he got it, but I’m guessing someone handed it to him when he was out walking and he looked at the message on it and thought of how lovely it was and how he related to it. Every day after that, he put it in his pocket — as a blessing, perhaps, to remind him of a stranger’s kindness. I never stopped believing that he hung the moon, as I remember the nights when I was a child and he traced the constellations for me, showing me Pegasus and Orion.”
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “Opportunity No Less” Aging is not dementia but a blessing of a long life lived!
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wisdom and meaning of old age from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow —
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“Opportunity & Meaning No Less ” —
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For age is opportunity no less,
than youth itself, though in another dress,
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And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
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And as Marc Agronin evokes of Appelfeld’s imagination,
memories of hither and yon take wing & both soothe and
elevate as these ancient memories bring affirmation of the
greatest connections and joys in life — reminiscence’s beauty —
not to restore what has been lost but to experience the gratitude
that can come only with the realization that we never truly lose
the gifts from the most important reference points in our lives.
http://www.forward.com/articles/144274/
Thornton Wilder:
 The greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude |
The greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.
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Ellen Howarth: ‘Tis a Faded Flower —
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Where is the heart that doth not keep within its inmost core,
some fond remembrance hidden deep of days that are no more —
a faded flower, a broken ring, a tress of my loved one’s hair?
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http://www.bartleby.com/248/504.html
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Lesson plans filled with unsettling contempt for others from the holier than thou pharisees scar us all. As extraordinary sage Steven Kalas born 1957 intones, we desire to love and to be loved beneath our scarred features.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/what-hurts-most-may-bring-people-closest-together-134200018.html
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The people I know best and with whom I would say I’m the closest all have something in common. I know of their wounds. I know of their losses. It’s the same with people who know me and are close to me. They know the stories behind my psychic, emotional and even physical scars. There is no faster way to know someone but to ask, “Tell me about your life’s greatest loss.”
At the heart of what binds our most treasured, timeless relationships is the knowledge of loss and suffering. Trauma. Injustice. Moral failure. When someone shares these things with us, then and only then can we begin to say we know this person. Then and only then can we say we have a true intimacy.
There is, yet, another echelon of closeness. I refer to people we love, and still love, and with whom we remain close, who have hurt us. And/or we have hurt them. Though, somehow, in this case, the injuries did not extinguish the relationship. This person is still here. Still loving us.
I think of two people in my own life. I see their faces. They love me. Really they do. But, in the history of these relationships, I have behaved badly. In one I abused my power as a bully. In the other I betrayed a trust. And both of these people are still here. Still part of my life. If I think about it too often, it becomes quickly overwhelming.
I think of Thomas. That would be Thomas the disciple of Jesus in the Christian Gospel. It’s Sunday, and, two days ago, Jesus died like a dog. But Thomas’ friends say they have seen Jesus. That he is alive. Thomas scoffed: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
For this line, Thomas went down in history with the moniker “Doubting Thomas,” but I’ve always thought that was unfair. More like “Realistic Thomas.” Jesus doesn’t chastise Thomas for doubting. Instead, Jesus calls his bluff. Jesus shows up again, extends his wounded hands and says, essentially, “You’re on, cowboy. Reach out, see and feel these wounds. Those would be the holes left over from nails.”
“My Lord and my God,” Thomas exclaims.
For my purposes here, my point is not a “religious” one. It’s an existential one. Thomas recognizes Jesus as he knows Jesus’ wounds. The wounds are the ultimate credential of identity. The wounds of which Thomas is not innocent.
I think of my friends who, on their 20th anniversary ask me to preside at their renewal of vows. They gather their children, their family and friends. They stand in their living room and reaffirm the promises of marriage, hope and love. But, see, I know something of the history of this marriage. I know of its joys and celebrations. I know of its wounds. I know of injuries and betrayals. How he has hurt her. How she has hurt him.
Yet, here they stand, telling each other and their Maker of their love, constancy and fidelity. Their hope. Their steadfast willingness to walk the beloved to the grave. And it occurs to me, again, that at the end of 40 to 50 years of healthy marriage, a foundational part of what binds an old man and old woman together is … scar tissue. From which pours not resentment but treasure and blessings. A breathtaking intimacy. A profound knowing. We say: “You see that jagged psychic scar on my beloved’s heart? I did that.”
I presided at the renewal. Then I got out my guitar and sang them the song “Purple Heart”:
Once upon a time you stood before an altar
And you promised not to leave
You held each other’s hand and dreamed a sweet forever
Love drove angels to their knees
Oh, the days they do fly by
Count the tears that you have cried
Count the laughter and the lies
Count your love and times love died
And here you stand together, battle-scarred and torn
The locks of fairy tales have fallen, long since shorn
Love has chosen you, blessed you, crucified you
See what you’ve become
Love’s Purple Heart is won
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX7F4a_tR4A
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China toddler rescued by street vagrant is mind-blowing incarnation of Jesus’ Samaritan Parable
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from KingLit Ching: “Thanks for the praise.” Really????
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Reprise yesterday’s video of the toddler who was hit by a van and left to die in a crowded narrow China business street scene.
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from Carol Ludloff Arnold — Makes you wonder if this is what society has come to–just watch a child or anyone as a matter of fact, be killed and do nothing?
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No Tears in Heaven?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_Heaven*
tears in heaven are not shed for KingLit Ching born 1936?
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[KingLit is not perfect, such that KingLit wrongly mucho machos that no tears ever should or will be shed for KingLit. http://bible.cc/revelation/21-4.htm]
Should be “let the dead bury the dead.”
And tears in heaven [2 Corinthians 5:9-10 & Revelation 20:11-15 ] are not shed for KingLit Ching? KingLit exudes candor and honest feelings. To whom is puritanical spartan KingLit Ching — acolyte-devotee/son/daughter/grandchild/peer/aunt — to whom?
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Tis’ not “who am I, but TO WHOM am I??” To whom is puritanical spartan KingLit Ching?
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“To whom are you a neighbor?” Jesus intones.
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“Now which of these three men do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
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He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
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Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
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Luke 10:30-37
To whom is KingLit???
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from KingLit Ching — why not selective earned worth via being a victim of selective abuse?
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my reply —
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One does not earn redemption, just as God does NOT engage in selective Grace. Redemption is God’s universal all-inclusive Act of Grace, NOT earned NOR merited! There is NO such thing as selective abuse, just as there is NO perfect KingLit Ching. Such “selection” smacks of overpride and vanity, just as its flip side smacks of jealousy [over one’s pride] & envy [for God’s omniscient power]. God’s Grace is the OPPOSITE of YOUR selective abuse. You DON’T get it that worth is UNmerited & UNearned. For every person you judge to BE unworthy, I encourage such person to aspire to a higher calling [of encouraging others in turn]. The puritan spartan is both a puritan and a spartan only to oneself, not anyone else. So what kind of neighbor are YOU? Luke 10:25-37.
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Portraying a Samaritan in a positive light comes as a shock to Jesus’ audience. It is typical of His provocative speech in which conventional expectations are turned over on their head. KingLit asks, “So who is my neighbor?” Wrong.
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KingLit’s pericope [short parable] or teaching illustration is fraught with unsettling contempt for others, based on KingLit’s impossible puritan spartan standards. In contrast, Denise’s beautiful urgency and power of her bond with her father is beyond compare. Denise honors her dad’s legacy of instilling self-worth in her by forging her own remarkable legacy of immense compassion and empathy for others.
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from William Wordsworth
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from heartful Nani Kyota —
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The funny thing is that this is something that I have been pondering. Unfortunately it hasn’t really been on a necessarily “Godly” level. I have been reading the power and it talks about giving love. I think with God anything is possible and without him nothing is. I know that when I put him first my day is so much better than when I am rushing and forget what is really important!
On the faith issue, this is where I stand. I have to say that my knowledge of the Bible isn’t what it should be and so I don’t know if this is actually from the Bible but someone told me once that faith and fear cannot occupy the same space and from that moment I really do not fear. Before that I was scared of so many things, now I just try my best to be my very best and I know that is all that God really expects of us. He loves us no matter what and we should do the same for all of our fellow brothers and sisters.
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Second Timothy 1:7, “For God has
not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind.”
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from loving Nani Kyota —
to paralyzing beauty [inner, not just outer] Nani Kyota, Jesus’ beautiful child —
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Hi Nani: You live around the corner from church, right?? I posted your keiki ohana’s great song on my blog, along with your comments about “give & it is given” & Rev. Jeffress [condemning Romney/Huntsman]. Happy New Year!! I always was into you because I never forgot how disappointed I was when Kewina Palaunu brushed you off the Wednesday before Christmas exactly 2 years ago [2010] at Bible Study. You asked the most important question since time immemorial — “How do I deal with my children? Sometimes I feel so sad thinking about these matters.” Kewina’s ongoing message about the “bliss” of Christmas utterly was meaningless and irrelevant and indifferent to the most important question posed to Jesus — “How do I cope with life’s challenges?” Man, Kewina had the opportunity of a lifetime to address your question which came from “be not of this world.” [Divinity, not the earthly realm] The Bible has all the answers to the most critical questions beset by earthly beings. All you needed from Kewina was affirmation on your practical wisdom as Jesus’ devout Bible-hugger!! 😉 Simply put, your Faith & Devotion amount to Intercession [prayer for humanity to Heavenly Father] of a most loving order/magnitude/degree. I will never forget your authenticity, courage, clean heart, & prophecy [anticipate our deepest earthly woes]. Your most ardent fan, –Curt
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http://bible.cc/romans/8-34.htm
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Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
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http://bible.cc/galatians/2-20.htm
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Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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from loving pure heart Nani Kyota —
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When given time I found out that Kewina is like all of us, just trying to figure out where we belong in God’s plan.
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intervention/intercession– divine appointment — sobering
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Norman Vincent Peale — bueno!
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innovation vs. entropy
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NO–bqmB6k&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL822D533C6961C4C5
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVMyIqU_48s
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkmQCp_Vqkk
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In memory of my great hero Mariska Veres 1947-2006 [5th anniversary of her death in December] —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XibFQlJj_c8&feature=related
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Alejandra Burgos’ bass player does a fine cover [redux] & he [out of view/camera shot] riffs the famous Peter Gunn theme song [cover here on Henry Mancini’s original number] —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNBgJMD3-E&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtZSeEIr-kg
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the younger the artists, the fresher their approach —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8BOMxyjtFo&feature=related
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Beautiful imagination & creativity!! Congratulations on a most remarkable confounding/revolt of a great standard [tune]. You have blended the jazzy beat of Peter Gunn [same bass vamp/riff] of over half a century ago with the great Swing rhythm of nearly a century ago. Age is a factor — the younger/fresher, the better!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rh7jjzpC1c
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCI_xVdnLQA&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr1uSZB6ftg&feature=player_embedded
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http://news.yahoo.com/top-chinese-wealthys-wish-list-leave-china-065826880.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/opinion/krugman-will-china-break.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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reared and nurtured in love, respect, constancy, regard and the warmth of people who cherish one another — redemptive healing — communicate, share, negotiate, listen, learn, tolerate, understand, compromise and reconcile. Beautiful images from Steven Kalas.
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Joel Osteen’s theology — wealth and power are rewards for pious Christians — sheez!
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology#Socioeconomic_analysis
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The Social Gospel is real Scripture —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology#Influence_on_others
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Good to observe sanity after seeing misanthrope Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Liberty Church in Dallas of the Southern Baptist Convention slam Obama & Romney as non-Christians. Sheez … Jeffress is Lucifer to me. 
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from sweetheart & gorgeous Nani Kyota — I’m not sure where I stand on the LDS issue right now but the haters should realize that the actual name of the church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints so it just shows their ignorance when they say that so-called Mormons which they were named by others because of the Book of Mormon which is another testament of Jesus Christ by prophets who left Israel when directed by God and kept a record of his commandments at that time then when the records or “plates” were threatened the prophet Moroni abridged them and buried them for safe keeping. Sorry that may be too much information but I don’t get upset with ignorant people anymore — I just sadden. I guess if they believed more in their own church they wouldn’t have to slam other churches.
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Nani
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Great sage Steven Kalas born 1957 on dealing with energy vampires —
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http://www.lvrj.com/view/mom-s-changing-stories-about-money-cause-hurt-confusion-138834794.html
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tightrope dichotomy of trying to be The Observer (detached, staying objective) yet still having the very real human experience of being “driven crazy.”
It is personal when we are conscripted into someone’s crisis of fear and smallness. It is personal to be deliberately moved about the game board of someone’s life as if we were no more than a lesser chess piece in the contest of ego-defense and self-importance.
It hurts to be treated as a means to an end. The hurt is a sign of our health — our self-respect — not a sign that anything about us needs to be fixed.
And yet … it is equally a sign of self-respect that we make an effort to be The Observer. We do this, too, because we love. Despite our hurt and disappointment, we want to try to understand, to attempt to answer the question of what’s really going on here.
I can be in a relationship with you, or I can manage you in relationship. I prefer to do the former. But, if you absolutely insist, you can make me do the latter. I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll do it. Especially if the alternative is being driven crazy.
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Ron Paul’s M.D. money was made in a White homogeneous middle class & upper class society. Thence, his hypocrisy in not paying for his campaign mgr.’s medical bills on grounds that these creditors shall be paid out of probate — which mean that the insolvent probate estate will leave the creditors with no recourse. There is no safety net unless there is national health insurance, contrary to Paul’s right wing Libertarianism that patients will be taken care of.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism#Late_twentieth_century
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from gregarious Kinglit Ching born 1936 —
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I agree 100% with your assessment of pastor Jeffress. He must be a huge embarrassment to the Christian evangelical right and the Republican Party. But, unfortunately, there are many right wingers who think the same way. I am also proud of key blacks rallying around President Obama to defend him against the charge that he is not doing enough for Black Americans. That Cornel West of Princeton is a self serving light weight and admits that he is retaliating against Obama for snubbing him and not inviting him to White House events. What an a____h____!
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There must be many variations of pride with many positive aspects as well as numerous negative aspects. The Greeks probably do a good job with variations. Isn’t “false pride” destructive and deserved pride healthy? Destruction comes from many other sources other than false pride. The worst is indifference or overconfidence.
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However materialism is not all bad. Seeking food and shelter are basic materialistic needs. Seeking tools and transportation extends the ability to be productive. Modern Israel sees the ultra conservatives as being unproductive and a parasite in society. Every individual’s contribution must be rigorously challenged and evaluated to determine if that individual is contributing to society or is a parasite. Jesus called some utterances “clanking gongs.” I prize wisdom, not clanking gongs. KL
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from Curt —
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Subject: symbolism
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It’s great to be American that we elect a minority race President [never thought I’d see it in my lifetime]. It’s great to see Americans rally to defend Romney/Huntsman as Mormons, Obama as UCC Christian, vs. vulgar pastor Jeffress of the Southern Baptist Convention. I watched Jeffress over the span of 3 hrs. from the get-go, & Jeffress is so full of himself w/his doctorate in divinity & haughty pride — competely in love with himself — nothing to do with Scripture.
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Great long-lived point of KingLit Ching — open-minded exposure/comprehension/empathy/appreciation/application —
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Curt, I’d love to have you dissect my hypothesis since this is what you are exceptionally good at doing. There is no generation gap here, just a common desire to WRITE history and not have it written for us (by assholes). Regards, -KL
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from Curt
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Lessons On A Rejection Into The All-Haole Pacific Club —
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When Masaji Marumoto was rejected for membership in the all-haole Pacific Club, Masaji quietly said, “I reluctantly signed my application aware that the members may not be ready to break w/the past. I did not do so in crusading spirit. I do not feel badly about the outcome because I do not consider it a personal affront. We do not have a perfect society, but we have made great strides, all for the better. We have a happy community because changes came imperceptibly & naturally. We will continue to make progress if we are not too sensitive about some of the things which we consider undesirable. Particularly in matters involving personal attitudes, the solution lies not in forcing the issue on any abstract notion of right or wrong, but in developing further understanding & respect by more frequent exposure to each other.” Gov. Jack Burns tendered Jack’s resignation from the Pacific Club when Masaji’ s application got rejected. Masaji was the 1st-ever AJA on the highest court 1957 & a sitting S.Ct. Justice in 1969. Like Masaji’s peer Rev. Hung Wai Ching, Masaji saw a happy society, & expressed Masaji’s outlook on this vision. Not perfect by any means, but happy just the same. A society which Masaji respected and cherished. A society that he hoped would share exposure/comprehension/appreciation/encouragement/hope/wayfind w/Masaji. Deep, really deep! — Love, Curt
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from KingLit Ching born 1936 — I like to combine the philosophies of Mandela and Lincoln about keeping enemies close with Obama’s philosophy of reaching out to find common ground and mutual interests to create a dialog. I have a personal philosophy of trying to shed my visceral, emotional responses and pursue a clear headed intellectual, logical analysis of problems. This is why the old adage about sleeping on a decision is wise. If you recall, I sent you the Israeli Jewish and Arabic Peace Song which stressed the fact that “tolerance” enabled people to see the good points of their adversaries and creates a basis for reconciliation. I find this a very powerful philosophy which I would like you to comment on and expand upon from both a Biblical point of view and a philosophical point of view. [Curt’s reply — Biblical forgiveness —
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http://www.joycemeyer.org/articles/ea.aspx?article=the_poison_of_unforgiveness
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Secular forgiveness —
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Jesus makes clear that to forgive is to forget — propitiosity
“And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17
“God’s way of forgiving is thorough and hearty, -— both to forgive and to forget; and if thine be not so, thou hast no portion of His.” –Leighton
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A fella couldn’t get over being double-crossed by his longtime football buddy.
I tell him, “Brah’, you dwell in bitterness, not in Jesus’ redemption. Choose — be loved by Jesus or your football pal? Forgive yourself, don’t blame yourself for being a fool for redemption [of embracing fully life attendant w/risks of failure-rejection-derision-scorn].
You cannot control the destiny of your football friend, but you can master your attitude about yourself, of course with Jesus’ guidance/inspiration. Heavenly Father says that to forgive in our propiosity/divine revelation actually is to forget, brah’. Your failure, your hurt, your humiliation, visualize a box cupped in both hands, put all of your unbearable/unthinkable worlds in this little box — and give it to Jesus, brah’. Release yourself, distance yourself, from these worlds inside this box, and unburden yourself to Jesus. Give it to Jesus, brah’.
And just as you forgive yourself, you gonna’ be shocked & amazed how easily it’ll be forgotten. All praise to Jesus, brah’, all praise!!”
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And this fella then let out a long-held sigh, and bowed his head, then raised his head, with a lovely glow and a handsome smile on his face. Faith, obedience, endure to the end, in Jesus — works wonders. Remember, faith is not outcome dependent. But Faith is about attitude, of the divine sort a la Revelation.
Love for now and forever. –Curt]
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Dedicated to WWII buddahead messiah, FBI’s Bob Shivers 1894-1950 of Tennessee [thanks to Shivers’ hanai daughter Sue Kobatake Isonaga — 442nd’s Herb’s wife, who was Maui buddahead] — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k3ZfveGynE&feature=related And if you want some Kentucky flavor, get a load of outrageous [to counter her tutti frutti girlie backdrop] Miley Cyrus — http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/miley-cyrus-garters_n_1262861.html?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily%20Brief&utm_campaign=daily_brief
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Poke our eyes, eh, intellectual caveman/moron Tony Scalia! http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/how-scalia-helped-obama-defend-the-birth-control-rule.php
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Hi Stephen Paulmier [Socialist]: I want to brainstorm with you over “Utopia.” Aloha!
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability,_to_each_according_to_his_need#Debates_on_the_idea [utopian communism]
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Marx delineated the specific conditions under which such a creed would be applicable—a society where technology and social organization had substantially eliminated the need for physical labor in the production of things, where “labor has become not only a means of life but life’s prime want.” Marx explained his belief that, in such a society, each person would be motivated to work for the good of society despite the absence of a social mechanism compelling them to work, because work would have become a pleasurable and creative activity. Marx intended the initial part of his slogan, “from each according to his ability” to suggest not merely that each person should work as hard as they can, but that each person should best develop their particular talents.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_commons [analog of communism]
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In the inverse commons, the opposite results of the law of the commons [oversaturation/eventual extinction of resource by overpopulation, etc.] effect are witnessed. That is, individuals contributing knowledge and content for the good of the community rather than extracting resources for their own personal gain. Examples of this are free and open source software and Wikipedia. This phenomenon is linked to “viral” effects and increases in prominence as individuals contribute altruistically and for social gain.
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The inverse commons outcome is likely when the cost of the contribution is much less than its value over time. Information has this property. For example, it costs very little for a Wikipedia contributor to enter knowledge from their experience into Wikipedia’s servers, and very little for Wikipedia to serve that information over and over again to readers, generating great value over time. Unlike the pasture of a physical commons, information isn’t degraded much by use. Thus the value of Wikipedia increases over time, attracting more readers some of whom become contributors, forming a virtuous cycle [opposite of a vicious circle].
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass_(sociodynamics)#Fax_machine_example
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_each_according_to_his_contribution#Elaboration_in_Gotha [socialism]
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The principle has its roots in the way that capitalism manages its affairs. That is, each is rewarded according to how much he produces. Remuneration increases as the amount of labor contributed increases. However within capitalism, the means of production are owned by a small minority who does not produce, but rather lives off the labor of others. Socialism is said to remedy this by putting the means of production in common hands and rewarding individuals according to their contributions. Chronology — land [feudalism] to goods [capitalism] to collective means of production/information [socialism] to collective exponential benefits [communism]. Margaret Thatcher’s “every man for himself” capitalism/avarice — http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-britain-thatcher-20120114,0,6755885.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews+%28L.A.+Times+-+Top+News%29
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Artistic license which results in great movies like “The Last Samurai” [courage/clean heart/prophecy — anticipate the future] —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_a_clef
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_%C3%A0_clef
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASEtPn_xhGQ&feature=player_embedded
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Obama plays golf with Boehner — reversal of expectation a la Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu per quip of Hank Williams Jr. — scribe Kathleen Parker asks if those outraged by Hank Williams’ actually witty quip about the incongruity of Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu — are willing to be evenhanded in their defense of civility. Her clozer is that we are too serious with no sense of levity/light-heartedness.
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From KingLit –
This view, I believe, solves many irreconcilable positions that exist presently in the world. I believe that Boehner respects and even admires Obama. I believe that Boehner realizes politically that he needs to lead legislation to correct serious flaws on Wall St. and elsewhere and wants to collaborate with Obama. The golf match was a good 2 hours of one on one where key issues personal feelings have to eventually emerge. I it an opportunity to “get to know” someone more intimately. In business, the dinner together with a few cocktails to loosen things up ALWAYS works and is the climate for major business deals. Families are discussed, sports is always a big subject, and even “A” male bragging about sexual conquests is a factor (not with KL). I believe that the Israelis should meet with Hamas and Hezbollah WITHOUT predetermined arrangements. I guarantee that meaningful progress can be made because both parties have too much to lose and gain by not meeting.
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blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth [& the Kingdom of Heaven] — http://bible.cc/matthew/5-5.htm
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Gaddafi son Hannibal’s wife — glamor girl Aline’s depravity
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031074/Glamour-model-Talitha-van-Zon-escaped-rebels-partying-Gaddafi-son.html Gaddafi son Mutassim’s depravity
But beneath the playboy’s fun-loving exterior was a sinister side she witnessed when he launched a scathing attack on a servant who delivered a cold meal and then forced him to sit in the corner and eat it all.
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from darling Carol Ludloff Arnold — So so sad!
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Irony, reversal, and frustration of expectations illustrate opposites or impossibilities which tie in knots our social conventions. Not just the Parables but also the Beatitudes feature the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that are characteristic of Christ e.g. — Love thy enemy — To whom are you a neighbor? — Turn the other cheek.
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As faded via spots as is the paint on my car, I am proud of them because an abandoned kitty cat whom I called Brownie [female cat with brown fur] made her home there for the rest of her life. I am proud to have given Brownie a home and food/water and safety and comfort and joy. Brownie died of old age and I gaze upon these faded spots on my car with love and affection for Brownie.
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http://bible.cc/matthew/25-40.htm [what you do to the least of our world, so do you do this to me]
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http://bible.cc/genesis/50-20.htm [what others see as faded spots, I see as divine beauty]
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http://bible.cc/2_corinthians/4-7.htm [treasure of Brownie amid humanity’s treachery in disposing of and betraying Brownie]
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A correct contrarian opinion on Steve Jobs —
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/opinion/limits-of-magical-thinking.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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Steve Jobs, the mad perfectionist, even perfected his stare
He wanted it to be hypnotic. He wanted the other person to blink first. He wanted it to be, like Dracula’s saturnine gaze, a force that could bend your will to his and subsume your reality in his.
There’s an arresting picture of Jobs staring out, challenging us to blink, on the cover of Walter Isaacson’s new biography, “Steve Jobs.” The writer begins the book by comparing the moody lord of Silicon Valley to Shakespeare’s Henry V — a “callous but sentimental, inspiring but flawed king.”
Certainly, Jobs created what Shakespeare called “the brightest heaven of invention.” But his life sounded like the darkest hell of volatility.
An Apple C.E.O. who jousted with Jobs wondered if he had a mild bipolarity.
“Sometimes he would be ecstatic, at other times he was depressed,” Isaacson writes. There were Rasputin-like seductions followed by raging tirades. Everyone was either a hero or bozo.
As Jobs’s famous ad campaign for Apple said, “Here’s to the crazy ones. … They push the human race forward.”
The monstre sacré fancied himself an “enlightened being,” but he was capable of frightening coldness, even with his oldest collaborators and family. Yet he often sobbed uncontrollably.
Isaacson told me that Jobs yearned to be a saint; but one of the colleagues he ousted from Apple mordantly noted that the petulant and aesthetic Jobs would have made an excellent King of France.
His extremes left everyone around him with vertigo.
He embraced Zen minimalism and anti-materialism. First, he lived in an unfurnished mansion, then a house so modest that Bill Gates, on a visit, was astonished that the whole Jobs family could fit in it. And Jobs scorned security, often leaving his back door unlocked.
Yet his genius was designing alluring products that would create a country of technology addicts. He demanded laser-like focus from employees to create an A.D.D. world.
He was abandoned by parents who conceived him out of wedlock at 23, and he then abandoned a daughter for many years that he conceived out of wedlock at 23.
Chrisann Brennan, the mother of Jobs’s oldest child, Lisa, told Isaacson that being put up for adoption left Jobs “full of broken glass.” He very belatedly acknowledged Lisa and their relationship was built, Isaacson says, on “layers of resentment.”
He could be hard on women. Two exes scrawled mean messages on his walls. As soon as he learned that his beautiful, willowy, blonde girlfriend, Laurene Powell, was pregnant in 1991, he began musing that he might still be in love with the previous beautiful, willowy, blonde girlfriend, Tina Redse.
“He surprised a wide swath of friends and even acquaintances by asking them what he should do,” Isaacson writes. “ ‘Who was prettier,’ he would ask, ‘Tina or Laurene?’ ” And “who should he marry?”
Isaacson notes that Jobs could be distant at times with the two daughters he had with Laurene (though not the son). When one daughter dreamed of going to the Oscars with him, he blew her off.
Andy Hertzfeld, a friend and former Apple engineer, lent Lisa $20,000 when she thought her father was not going to pay her Harvard tuition. Jobs paid it back to his friend, but Lisa did not invite him to her Harvard graduation.
“The key question about Steve is why he can’t control himself at times from being so reflexively cruel and harmful to some people,” Hertzfeld said. “That goes back to being abandoned at birth.”
He almost always wore black turtlenecks and jeans. (Early on, he scorned deodorant and went barefoot and had a disturbing habit of soaking his feet in the office toilet.)
Yet he sometimes tried to ply his exquisite taste to remake the women in his life.
When he was dating the much older Joan Baez — enthralled by her relationship with his idol, Bob Dylan — he drove her to a Ralph Lauren store in the Stanford mall to show her a red dress that would be “perfect” for her. But one of the world’s richest men merely showed her the dress, even after she told him she “couldn’t really afford it,” while he bought shirts.
When he met his sister, Mona Simpson, a struggling novelist, as an adult, he berated her for not wearing clothes that were “fetching enough” and then sent her a box of Issey Miyake pantsuits “in flattering colors,” she said.
He was a control freak, yet when he learned he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer that would respond to surgery, he ignored his wife, doctors and friends and put the surgery off for nine months, trying to heal himself with wacky fruit diets, hydrotherapy, a psychic and expressing his negative feelings. (As though he had to be encouraged.)
Addicted to fasting because he felt it produced euphoria and ecstasy, he refused to eat when he needed protein to fight his cancer.
The Da Vinci of Apple could be self-aware. “I know that living with me,” he told Isaacson as he was dying, “was not a bowl of cherries.”
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I was an infantry medic but scored with marksperson rating [expert rating at the top, followed by sharpshooter rating, followed by marksperson rating].
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The expert sniper is a master of stealth movement/undetected/unseen, of camouflage, most critically of patience/pasiensa, to assess terrain/fields of fire/optimum positions-angles — & result in a gravely disproportionate effect on the enemy — striking fear/terror in enemy troops/morale — w/the kill shot’s stone-cold relaxed trigger hand engaged in a clinical quality all its own. American Revolution hero Daniel Morgan like his more famous namesake Daniel Boone was of Welsh immigrant roots, as fellow expert hunter Timothy Murphy was of brogue Irish strain. All were backwoodsmen and frontiersmen, who hunted to survive, familiar w/the ways of Indian tribes and the nature of wild prey and predators, where a single isolated movement/visual peek was all it took for the effective kill shot. Chinese-English descendant Billy Sing 1886-1943 of Gallipoli killed Turk Abdul the super sniper with the one and only first shot, lest Abdul’s first shot kill Sing, Abdul getting the fatal bullet over the barrel of Abdul’s rifle between Abdul’s eyes. Vietnam War’s Carlos Hathcock 1942-1999 shot game to survive with his backwoods impoverished grandma. Hathcock’s extraordinary kill shot came after NVN posted $30 G for him to be killed — Hathcock caught a fleeting glint of light thru the jungle, in this case the sunlight reflecting off the NVN expert sniper’s front lens of his telescopic scope. Hathcock fired his one and only kill shot [no second chance among experts], & found his foe w/a bullet in his scope eye, the bullet coming thru the foe’s scope sight, meaning that the foe’s rifle was pointed directly at Hathcock at the instant Hathcock’s kill shot hit him in the eye. Had Hathcock waited an instant longer, the $30 G would’ve been won by the expert sniper foe. Tim Kellner a decade ago was a naturally gifted sniper and an expert backwood hunter, w/tremendous skills in fieldcraft/covert movement/concealment/patience. As w/the deadliest snipers of all time [Scot Patrick Ferguson/Tom Plunkett/Ben Powell/Hiram Berdan/Sepoy Bob the Nailer/Rich Travis/Francis Pegahmagabow/Henry Norwest/Finn White Death “Belaya Smert” by Soviet Army — Simo Hayha 1905-2002/Stalin’s Vassil Zaitsev 1915-1991/Soviet female leopard Lyudmila Pavlichenko 1916-1974/Austrian Josef “Sepp” Allergerger 1924-2010/German Matthias Hetzenauer 1924-2004/New Zealand Alfred Hulme 1911-1982/KingLit Ching’s renowned Fallschirmjager/William S. Brophy/Chester “Chet” Hamilton/Ernest R. Fish/Red China’s Zhang Taofang 1931-2007/Adelbert F. Waldron 1933-1995/Chuck Mawhinney born 1949/Frank Grieci/Scott Dennison/Juba of Baghdad/Brandon McGuire/Oliver “Teddy” Ruecker/Christopher Reynolds/Craig Harrison/Rob Furlong/Aaron Perry] — living in the outdoors/woods/jungle heightens the senses, which are dulled terribly by modern conveniences/comfortable urban living. Wisdom of our ecosystem/environment imbues one in sensitivity to animal life — animals by their movements/behavior/warning signs/cries/startles give away your positions of stealth/concealment.
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On the domestic front, mob/godfather rule are paramilitary in mentality/psychology, and drop-dead Hollywood handsome Honomu’s Earl Tanimoto’s yamato damashii/stone-cold fearlessness would serve him well/he could stand his ground — were he in this venue, which obviously he is not. Just the same, I moniker Earl born 1944 as “Ekolu,” w/the strength of three men his own size, just as Ali early foe Herculean Duke Sabedong’s moniker was Ekolu or Kolu for short, Kolu a bronze Mercury behemoth at 6’7″ 200 lbs.
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tremendous points by sage Steven Kalas on how repressed anger fuels suicide —
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Posted: Feb. 21, 2012 | 12:19 a.m.
On Aug. 16, I published a column in response to a woman whose adult son had completed suicide. You can reference that column at this link:http://www.lvrj.com/view/steven-kalas-therapy-may-help-mother-cope-with-son-s-suicide-127815283.html.
Then I received the heartfelt letter below in reply. My editor has agreed to make an exception in this case for the normal 750-word limit. So, grab a cup of coffee and join the dialogue.
Hello Steven: I read your two articles on suicide. The first was not only wrong but extremely hurtful. I don’t think judging or generalizing about people being in rages will lower the rate (of suicide) or help the relatives. Inadequate medical care for the terminally ill, schizophrenics, bipolar, clinically depressed is a big cause (of suicide). Violence to spouses and children is another reason for it. Bullied gay children also. Victims are in nonsurvival states emotionally and mentally and escape hopelessness, not in rages.
Addiction to legal and illegal medications is also a cause. No work or the parents working too much are causes also. Many different reasons are common. I am a naturalist, not religious, so I don’t judge them and condemn them to hell. I think older people need a more humane death, like in Oregon. I know that they are different from murderers who have more going mentally.
I realize you are probably tired of the sad, depressing topic and need new work. Too long in that area makes people feel angry or depressed. Our society is corrupt and money-hungry, not healthy. Caring and compassion are in short supply. All of the areas need a lot of work. But deciding they die in rages is not truthful, as the relatives know all the problems involved. It’s just a pointless attitude. People all have feelings and are entitled to them except for those who write for newspapers and get more influence and exposure. You should be more careful about generalizing in sad areas. — J.B., Las Vegas
Thank you for your letter, J.B. It was from the heart and deserves a respectful response.
First, I’m writing unaware of a second recent column (you mention reading “two articles”) regarding the subject of suicide. For the record, then, I’m responding only to your concerns about the Aug. 16 column of last year.
Next, I know you’re a survivor of suicide. That’s jargon from the American Association of Suicidology, meaning not that you once tried to kill yourself and survived; rather, that you were closely related to someone who did complete suicide. Surviving suicide is fraught with a terrible and almost always complicated grief. I admire the courage and resolve with which you have walked it. Your brother would smile at the way you’re standing up for him.
Finally, in a historical accident of fate, I actually got my start in behavioral health work in suicidology. Prevention, intervention, postvention — suicidology is a particular focus of my training and work as a clinician. The crux of my Aug. 16 column comes from a speech I often give across the country called “A Unique Grief.” I am a survivor of suicide, three times over. Lost two cousins and an uncle during a 16-month span. It was like a grass fire ascended from hell. I’m right there with you, J.B. Let’s talk.
You say I’m judging. It is true that I take seriously moral deliberation regarding human behavior. Also true that I sometimes am willing to draw moral conclusions, which I’d agree are, then, judgments. Specifically regarding suicide, I make no apologies for my insistence that suicide is a moral event. That is, it can never be a nonmoral event.
If you’re asking about my personal beliefs, I say that suicide is … wrong.
Yet, I suspect that, by judgment, you mean something more akin to condemnation. And that I don’t do. First, because I’m not God. But second, because condemnation is not something I want to do. If I was to say this theologically, I would say that, in the love of our Maker, the door to hell has been permanently locked open. No one resides there who does not absolutely insist upon it. While you said you were not religious, I just wanted you to know that not everyone who lives by faith needs or wants to condemn your loved one to hell. Though I apologize for the many religious folks who have gleefully insisted suicide is unforgivable. Just saying that’s not me.
Generalizations? The idea of suicide as retroflected anger (rage) is no generalization. More a psychoanalytic observation. Perhaps my favorite Sigmund Freud quote of all time is, “The consequences of our behavior tend to reveal our motivations.” Whatever the felt or stated “reasons” of a suicidal patient, a suicide is in the end an act of violence that kills. And this violence is, at minimum, connected to a motive for behaving violently. If not officially rage, it expresses at least a deep antipathy for one’s own life.
You list many “causes” for suicide: mental illness, inadequate care for mental illness, domestic violence, bullying, addiction, joblessness, hopelessness. Yet, in my work, we don’t call these causes; rather, they are risk factors. I’m saying these states of suffering do not explain suicide. All we know is that suicidal patients are commonly experiencing these sufferings. Yet, other patients with these same sufferings don’t kill themselves. So, risk factors point to statistical risk, not to cause.
You say that suicidal patients are different from murderers because murderers “have more going mentally.” I must tell you that, in the case of ordinary people (not sociopaths) who commit murders, I don’t know that I know your view to be true. The evidence points to both people having a lot in common in terms of mentality. Both are commonly in crisis. Both are desperate. Hopeless. Both are in tremendous pain.
And both tend to be angry.
Actually, it’s not at all true that I am “tired” of the topic of sadness. Nor does the subject make me the least angry or depressed. Grief is a particular calling of mine. I find a continuous inspiration in working with sad people.
You and I agree that our society is corrupt and money-hungry. That caring and compassion are in short supply.
You say that my linking suicide and anger is “a pointless attitude.” I, on the other hand, am keenly aware of my point. Two points, specifically: observing this link will decrease the risk of suicide and help survivors.
When patients present as suicidal, they often are unaware of their anger. The inability to hold anger consciously is consequential. Unconscious anger is, at minimum, exhausting. It saps vitality (depression). But it also can be destructive or even lethal. It follows then, that identifying anger (making it conscious) can give a patient more choices about what can be done with anger. Throughout my career, I have many times noticed that encouraging a suicidal patient to meaningfully engage anger usually decreases suicidal ideation, often rendering these fantasies no longer necessary.
Next, the survivors. Over and over I have watched survivors protect their broken hearts with what I called in the column a poetic narrative. The story is told as tragedy, for which we then mobilize compassion, empathy, understanding, and in some cases, unexamined “explanations.” We get the victim off the hook, because our broken hearts very much need for the victim to be exonerated.
Then, several months or even years later, those same survivors often show up in a counselor’s office with malaise, depression, acting-out symptoms — psychic stuckness. They have surrounded their loss with a story that does not permit disappointment, indignation, or as Dr. Sue Chance says (the author of the book I referenced, “Stronger Than Death: When Suicide Touches Your Life,”), being “righteously pissed.”
At some point, most survivors need to include a moral accountability laid at the feet of the victim. Suicide is deeply intimate, deeply personal to those left behind. It hurts. Someone has killed my loved one. That someone is my loved one.
Asking the victim to be ultimately responsible for the decision to die, whatever the list of risk factors, is a crucial part of healing for most survivors. I’m committed to helping them find a voice for that outrage. When they are ready, of course. It’s never my practice to tell any patient how to feel about anything. Rather, I push my patients to tell themselves the truth about how they are feeling, or whether some denied feeling is at the root of their symptoms. As you say, “People all have feelings and are entitled to them.” I completely agree.
I’m sorry you experienced my column as “extremely hurtful.” In my work, I do frequently have to be willing to articulate things that must uncover a great hurt. I take no pleasure in that. But I derive great joy and satisfaction out of watching someone lean into their hurt and thereby find a lighter spirit and more choices for living well.
Which, from the bottom of my heart, is my wish for you.
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From inimitable renaissance thinker KingLit Ching born 1936 on magnanimous Denise Takashima born 1953, our modern Joan of Ark —
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Hi Denise,
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I find Curtis’ eulogy for your mom and his personal evaluation of you very interesting. Curtis is a big Denise fan (me too) so I find his probes into who you are very enlightening.
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Being raised by a single parent can also influence a female into an A male type belief in martial arts. I am a big believer that athletics give women a well rounded, balanced approach to life. Athletics give them a special confidence to compete in a so called man’s world. You say that men with daughters have a more sensitive view of life. I say that fathers need to introduce and mentor daughters in athletics to enable them to participate equally with men in the 21st Century. All 4 of my daughters and my 3 granddaughters are athletic and excel in sports such as tennis, long distance running, soccer, and basketball. Yet they are feminine, fashion-conscious in an understated way, with outgoing personalities, and are exceptionally considerate. All are engaged in volunteer work and give much more than they take. A uniform weakness that they have is that they somehow feel entitled and like to compare themselves with other women. Terrible! 😉
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By the way, I knew Yuri (Mary) and Bill Kochiyama quite well. I would visit with them in Harlem when I was attending undergraduate and graduate schools on the East Coast. When I first met Bill, he asked if I was related to Hung Wai and when I replied in the affirmative (Hung Wai is my dad), Bill teared (cried) up. Bill never forgot how HW (Dad) went to bat for AJAs and had firsthand experience with HW’s efforts going everywhere to make things happen. Bill is a 442nd infantry combat veteran and HW formed the 442nd combat team. I told AJA soldier historian Ted Tsukiyama (born 1920) this story many years ago and Ted was so touched he continuously quotes the story. Yuri Mary Kochiyama is a true revolutionary. She was a terrorist at heart like Che Guevara (and Kohala Puerto Rican boxing great Aladino Guzman, my nom de guerre), always looking for opportunities to march and demonstrate for a good cause. Armed struggle has its place (vs. totalitarian regimes where reform is not possible). Bill was perfect for her also believing in her causes and also capturing her in photography since he was a professional photographer. Bill was also a good cook and always provided us with a great spread of Japanese food as Mary regaled us with her stories. Comparing Denise to Mary is a great compliment to Denise. Regards, –KL
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KingLit Ching’s hero Sterling Seagrave —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Seagrave
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The great Chinese assimilationist — Him Mark Lai — who just wanted “justice” [for Chinese immigrants to be recognized for their sacrifices in America]. An amazing person.
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Him Mark Lai was what Albert Lowe calls a “stealth organizer,” who was involved in progressive organizations throughout his life, strategically disguised as an interested researcher and scholar, and did not face the same community popularity or governmental scrutiny as higher profile Asian American activists of his era, such as Grace Lee Boggs and Yuri Kochiyama. Nevertheless, he was investigated by the FBI for his activities in Min Qing, as depicted in the 1991 film, The Chinatown Files.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Him_Mark_Lai#Organizations
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/opinion/holding-china-to-account.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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KingLit Ching born 1936 remembers when his dad Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 ran & lost for Con-Con 1950, despite protestations from his kitchen cabinet members Kats Kometani/Mas Marumoto & his mentor Statehood Joe Farrington 1897-1954, inasmuch buddaheads 100th/442nd were not organized to lead Hung Wai to victory — and KingLit distinctly remembers the Mo’ili’ili precinct hall where Hung Wai was to vote, such precinct being totally buddahead in ethnic demographic — and the election workers who tallied votes going haarumph/being disgusted at the visual of a Chinaman candidate like Hung Wai. Our all-Nisei [2nd generation Japanese Americans] soldiers were organized by Hung Wai 1941-1943, and our boys took for granted that our fellow buddahead population knew that Hung Wai germinated our all-Nisei fighting soliders — clearly our buddahead population had no clue of the genesis godfather Hung Wai.
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I made my deeply longed-for pilgrimage to Hilo native & great poet-book author-novelist Juliet S. Kono born 1943 this morning at our Hilo Japanese Immigrant Ctr., sweetest Juliet nearly the same generation as my big hero KingLit Ching born 1936 [son of our greatest historymaker Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002] — I worship Juliet for her grassroot love & compassion — when local writer Chris Bertelmann born 1952 needed words of encouragement, Juliet gave him tremendous love & support, likening Chris’ meme/tome to immensely sagacious Alexander Pope & Pope’s couplets — so that I shall emulate Juliet till the end of my days, so to speak. In contrast, Kapoho’s Frances Kakugawa deliberately ignored/forsook struggling Chris because Frances was too consumed w/receiving Frances’ book signing accolades from the press. And irony is that Juliet is much more accomplished/esteemed than Frances. Juliet’s focus on the A-bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki 66th anniversaries trigger her topic of peace/her recent novel this morning, 8/13/11. Juliet is a Jodo minister. A person of exceptional equanimity, not unlike Denise Takashima/Marianne Cope. I dedicate my homage to Juliet to eternal encourager/positive blithe soul Ekolu Tanimoto born 1944, another great hero/role model/extraordinary exemplar. Angels all!!
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Angelheart & great leader Nicci Gilbert — speaks out against prescription pill abuse — http://www.rr.com/video/2197084255
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownstone_(group)#History
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The Command per Christianity?? You must accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
There is no other way. The unalterable line! 🙂
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Per Christian creed, the only way to be saved is to accept personally Jesus as your Savior, trusting in His death as the payment for your sins and His resurrection as your guarantee of eternal life (John 3:16). Is Jesus personally your Savior?
Per Christian creed, if you want to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, say the following words to God. Remember, saying this prayer or any other prayer will not save you. Only believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for you can save you from sin. This prayer simply is a way to express to God your faith in Him and thank Him for providing for your salvation. “God, I know that I have sinned against You and deserve punishment. But I believe Jesus Christ took the punishment I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. I receive Your offer of forgiveness and place my trust in You for salvation. I accept Jesus as my personal Savior! Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness—the gift of eternal life! Amen!” So goes the creed.
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What is Christian soul?
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“A broad consensus emerged among biblical and theological scholars that soul-body dualism is a Platonic, Hellenistic idea that is not found anywhere in the Bible. The Bible, from cover to cover, promotes the ‘Hebrew concept of the whole person.’ G. C. Berkouwer writes that the biblical view is always holistic, that in the Bible the soul is never ascribed any special religious significance. Werner Jaeger writes that soul-body dualism is a bizzare idea that has been read into the Bible by misguided church fathers such as Augustine. Rudolf Bultmann writes that Paul uses the word soma (body) to refer to the whole person, the self, so that there is not a soul and body, but rather the body is the whole thing.” McMinn & Phillips, “Care for the soul: exploring the intersection of psychology & theology,” pp. 107-108 (2001).
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_in_the_Bible#cite_ref-13
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Etymology
The only Hebrew word traditionally translated soul [nephesh] in English language Bibles refers to a life breath which returns to God at death, rather than to an immortal soul. In the New Testament, the Greek word traditionally translated soul [psyche] has substantially the same meaning as the Hebrew, without reference to an immortal soul.
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Typical use
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- Concerning humanity
The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath [neshamah] of life,
and the man became a living being/soul [nephesh]—Genesis 2:7
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- Concerning animal
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. . . .
And whatever the man called each living creature [nephesh], that was its name.—Genesis 2:19
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Biblical definition
Genesis 2:7 gives the formula for creating a soul. According to this verse God did not make a body and put a soul into it like a letter into an envelope of dust. Rather he formed man’s body from the dust; then, by breathing His breath into it, he made the body of dust live, i.e. the dust did not embody a soul, but it became a soul—a whole creature.
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Immortality
The concept of an immaterial soul separate from and surviving the body is a common theme today but was not found in ancient Hebrew beliefs. The word never means an immortal soulor an incorporeal part of the human being that can survive death of the body as the spirit of dead.
- Example of soul mortality
The soul [nephesh] who sins shall die.
The son shall not bear the guilt of the father,
nor the father bear the guilt of the son.
The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and
the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.—Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV
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Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. Doctrine & Covenants 18:10
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There will be many gradations among eternal souls. As “one star differeth from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead.” 1 Corinthians 15:41-42
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Grecian immortality connotes life without end.
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Christian Eternal Life, on the other hand, connotes quality of life—exaltation, the highest type of immortality, the kind of life enjoyed by God Himself.
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“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
“Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37
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Disciple of Jesus is the preferred namesake for one who is called Mormon or LDS.
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Be forgiving and be like Jesus are the bylines for faith and obedience to Scripture/Bible.
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The most virulent and pernicious sin is of overpride/egotism. In tandem are vanity/jealousy/envy. Always heed your unction/prompt/Holy Ghost. Angels are messengers of Christ & can manifest as any animal or phenomenon.
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Keoni and Lukini Andrew born 1942/1943 are experts at opposite sex dynamics because the family
as the centerpiece of faith is their whole reason for existence, unlike clueless Earl Dean E. born 1945 , Biblical
scholar who flubs at application of Scripture to life, all the while preaching Canon like no tomorrow,
ensconced/self-absorbed in his own legend of his perfect marriage to his wife. Actually, Earl Dean
E. almost never applies Scripture to life because he’s too busy preaching about his perfect marriage
to his wife. Braggart/phony are not a stretch of imagination as ascriptions. Blowhard about his most obvious weakness — insecurity in his deepest core.
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Does one move forward or backward in trying to release oneself from the tyranny of one’s own past? Needing approval ergo excessive neediness vs. the values of self esteem and mutual acceptance/love is to take life out of your hands and into the palms of others, to avert the notion that by taking your life into your own hands means what is most terrible to an insecure person — no one is to blame. Self-worth is not verified by others, but simply because you know it/ouvre is so! If you are ignored or forsaken in this indifferent world, you can continue to feel that you are unlovable, or you can nurture the very qualities of love, tenderness, and support not provided by the rest of the world, and have joy in your transformation of simply accepting yourself for who you are or have become. So that when you peel off your ego from the reality of your life, you find that the reality of your life again is made up of the contrived egos of others who mask the beautiful fuchsia landscape of our globe. So that to follow your heart really is the only sane thing to do. Or as positive life exemplar Sunny Massad says, when you allow your authenticity AND vulnerability to arise, the phoniness of your personality transitions into the uniqueness of your individuality. But what is most important is to find peace within and share it with others outside. Massad quotes Werner Erhard, who says that perpetuating one’s position [ego] — as self-image/ideology/fantasy/whatever — is the toxin of the Mind state and the source of all dissatisfaction in life. Massad points to Eastern/Asian philosophy which takes the mind /ego out of being as the start to wellness of the soul. The point is not to solve the problems of the mind, but instead to get out of the mind and into the heart/soul of being/wholeness of life itself. Massad also quotes Coco Chanel — “How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.” Ouch!! 🙂
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God never wants us to suffer, but Nature’s course/suffering is our growth in God’s Holiness as we draw closer to God. The experience of loss/pain/ suffering do not shape us, but instead our response to such loss/experience shape our fate/destiny. We don’t choose misfortune, and we have the agency/choice to decide how we react in turn to these sad circumstances/ events. Loss/crisis offer up our transformative change/catalyst to growth, as we impel beyond our ego limitation and then transcend our self- inflated vices. Our deepest loss/ suffering teleport us to a divine ‘aina where we shorn our illusion of our own power/egocentrism, and in this netherland we decide whether to condemn ourselves to misery/self-loathing, or to forgive ourselves for our failed human condition/hamartia [maybe well-intended but miscued just the same]. Yes, the death of the egotistic self conceives the birth of the new self of extraordinary beauty and sensuality, and we do not consume ourselves with the fear of loss as a cop-out to deny us and others our desire to love and to be loved.
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I’ll never forget my Dad’s WWII 442 boys [Dad Toshi 1913-1998, Silver Star recipient 2nd Batt.] — when they got to Nice [pronounced niece] France, the resorts were on the inland/mauka side of the wide sidewalk separating structures from the beautiful beach. Unlike our backward thinking planners in Hawai’i, old world Nice France got right aesthetic beauty/public resources for the public good. Fast forward nearly 3 decades later — lonely vigil by high strung Jerry Rothstein 1936-2005 & his ever-devoted wife Judy 1937-2005 [both died in a car wreck when Judy crossed the center line] w/their protest signs on Banyan Drive fronting where the Hilo Haw’n Hotel was to be built, on the site of an ancient fish pond/canoe berth. Jerry/Judy were correct, whilst our 442 boys reveled in Hilo’s post-WWII/post-Statehood prosperity, not comprehending that short-term gain causes long-term loss [for our progeny’s pristine ecology/environment conservation/preservation]. Our materialistic obsessed boys [Dad’s youngest brothers-in-arm/charges/kozos-kids symbolized by money is god John Ushijima, all born 1922-1924] conveniently forgot about Nice France & the legacy it foretold to forward-thinking Jerry/Judy Rothstein half a world away in Hilo, Hawai’i. Jerry led PASH to reclaim our ‘aina/ocean for ancient Hawaiian culture, w/Angel Pilago simply pickbacking on adrenaline-rush Jerry. I knew Jerry/Judy very well — the forsaken duo of our myopic-lens society. Jerry Rothstein once asked me why I am into oldtime lore. Prosaic response — 1) my parents were old enough to be my grandparents [their lives interrupted by WWII]; 2) my world is my parents’ reference points of pre-WWII; 3) mistakes [I didn’t realize how brutal Ho Chi Minh was] & make-up calls [continued respect for my VNW combat peers, when our country all but forsook them] mark my passion for the past — real modesty is based on hamartia/miscues, not false modesty footed in whim fancy [as w/media portrayal of 1776 revolutionary Tom Paine, who in real life was a failure in capitalism/commerce, as a corset-maker/tobacco retailer/tax collector, of 2 failed marriages, of ill health –typhus/etc.].
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The Scandinavian Vikings came to North America looking to plunder [or to escape enveloping Ice Sheets?]. Columbus sought a commercial trade route. European colonists hunted for land & riches. As they moved across our continent they took by force what they craved, and they in turn impoverished the very people who were here first. Their encounters & domination resulted in cultural & environmental genocide. These new settlers — originally oppressed people who won their freedom w/blood and courage — became oppressors themselves. The coming industrial revolution exponentially wrought havoc across our continent, from the railroads to our nukes today. Collective consciousness today recognizes our limitations as a relatively new species on earth. Ancient Greeks coined this revelation as communicating w/the Muses — metaphysical beings of overviews — the big picture of our tiny place in this universe — & from such visions flowed Grecian drama & philosophy, Grecian hamartia/tragedy & triumph. Christians call our supernatural reality heaven & hell, Buddhists/Hindus call it the cycle of existence or the interval b/n lifetimes, for instance, & aboriginal natives call it the unseen world beyond our senses. Wisdom & compassion & clarity find the new land of our limitations as a species, & wisdom & compassion & clarity are the new explorers necessitated by geography & manmade havoc, for the most part. Buffalo calves are at the center of the herd where they are safest, for they ensure the future. The old buffalos travel on the outside of the herd where they risk themselves to their nemeses, the wolves. As a people, we sentients live for the future, knowing how much destruction we have wrought upon our tiny world in the solar system. We are like old buffalos, though our species is young. Our lives now shall be for always hereforth — for the calves of our future — for the reverence for life all around us and for our precious environment. Analogously, the butterfly effect of a butterfly changing the weather on the other side of its world, or around it, by moving its wings, means that sensitive dependence on initial conditions triggers significant results based on my-nyoot variances in the initial conditions. More meaning/joy/love count on imperceptible energy. Semantic splitting of hairs, but joy is internally driven, whereas happiness is externally impacted. Experience joy whilst you appreciate happiness. Happiness requires a changing of circumstance, whereas joy involves a changing of your attitude. Spiritual or secular beings of good attitude share the emotions they most fear would destroy friendships in a conventional sense — they risk authenticity because they will themselves to live and to die in love, not loss of love, but loss in love if they are rejected/outted by another.
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Irony’s value — Authenticity
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KingLit magnanimous, not because of any foibles, but in spite of them!! KingLit mentor/kahu by example. Like Zippy’s Restaurant Higa/sansei 3rd generation, KingLit forsakes power/fame for modest humility a la Herb Isonaga/Denise Takashima. Spiritually, KingLit ascetic/selfless. Like Gautama Buddha 500 B.C.,
KingLit noble son of Chinese cultural prince [Gautama’s father India warrior prince]. Flashpoint/reminiscent of the greatest of leaders [Jesus/Muhammad/etc.]. No empty slogans here. In contrast, view my cuz Cathy on O`ahu – her “self-enlightened” mantra is “I’m my own worst critic!” Translated, she loves herself to no end. You cannot say wrong to her, because she’s intolerantly right [in her mind]. Meaning, ”I love myself more than anything/anyone else.” Apropos Pope Gregory’s cardinal sins [vanity/pride] — me/me/me — envy/jealousy — I fear you/despise you – not love you, so to speak. Irks to listen to the multitude of noiseboxes/talking heads who discourse selfishly on themselves. Not self-deprecation/humility — utter hubris/jealousy. My “glorious” cuz is self-consumed [“own worst critic”]. Um sabio espiritual [a la Stephen Alencastre/A.K. Vierra — Portuguese/Luso spiritual starlights]. –
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from KingLit Ching born 1936, son of our greatest wayfinder Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 —
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Curtis,
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After much research and contemplation, I think I have an idea of what you see as my mental process being “ironic” in discovering “other “meanings beyond literal meanings.” I also understand the difference between satire and sarcasm and irony. As my hero S.I. Hayakawa, the renowned semanticist would say, “the word is not the thing.” KL P.S. I still consider myself a satirist – case in point, the LOCAL leadership of the East-West Center. I hold up the LOCALS to ridicule. I want to lampoon them. Complacent/uncaring.
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From: KL Ching
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2011
Subject: Your Definition of Irony & KL
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Curtis,
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What is your definition of irony and how irony pertains to me. I am confused. Regards, KL
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from KingLit Ching 8/7/11 —
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By golly, I do remember that you wrote this and it is only in the last 24 hours do I more fully understand what you meant. So Curt continues to be the mirror for me to understand who I am. Understanding myself also enhances my ability to understand others (I am now aware of my visceral, instinctive, intuitive judgments which are only first impressions and not final judgments). It is said by Harvard psychologists/philosophers/educators that the highest form of intelligence is self knowledge. The 2nd highest form of intelligence is understanding others. A special form of intelligence is understanding and practicing sensual sex with cataclysmic finality (your forte, Curt 😉 . Asceticism is the character of New England Congregationalists with their Spartan lifestyle. We WILL impose our vision for the world. 😉
Reinhold Niebuhr is re emerging as the inspiration for neo orthodox theology – the irony and tragedy of history. Niebuhr spoke of the redemptive reorientation of man’s nature and destiny – sin and grace, love and justice, faith and reason, realism and idealism. Pride and selfish self-centeredness are the roots of all evil. No wonder Reinhold Niebuhr is my dad Hung Wai’s and Barack Obama’s hero and, come to think of it, my hero too! Regards, –KL
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from KingLit Ching 8/7/11 —
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Curt, maybe wading through your batch of quips has offered me redemption. Hey, I’m going back to see if I cannot find a tidbit or two which enables me to squeeze though a worm hole and find a new reality in the cosmos. Too bad Einstein didn’t have a little more time to figure out what is in God’s mind. In humanity, Einstein was God sent to give us the incredible peek into the ultimate. Regards, –KL
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/relationship-important-part-of-effective-therapy-127085853.html
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Quality therapy is delivered in the context of a therapeutic relationship! Key word: relationship! Therapeutic benefit emerges — literally — in and proceeding out of the relationship. It is not a relationship of unilateral trust, rather, of mutual trust. It is a deep-seated sense of partnership. Even very sick people bring strengths to the table that have seen them through rough times. I notice these things, admire them and even learn from them.
A veteran therapist friend tells a simple yet powerful story about working with a patient who’d been sexually abused by several males in her family:
“She wailed, ‘Why Me?!’ It was voiced as a demand. She wanted an answer. And, of course, she feared she did something to deserve it. I simply answered, ‘The luck of the draw.’ She stared at me a moment, then shrieked: ‘The luck of the draw? That’s your answer?’ I nodded and said: ‘Yup. You did nothing to deserve it and, as far as I know, God doesn’t get pissed off at little kids and decide to punish them by giving them evil relatives who abuse them. To me that means it’s just the luck of the draw.’ After staring at me several seconds, she burst out laughing and I joined her. She left that session, smiling, shaking her head and marveling, ‘The luck of the draw.’ I might say that I’d come to this conclusion some time before about my own experiences.”
See, a therapist focused on textbooks and technique might have answered, all sincere and philosophical: “I don’t know. Why do you think this happened to you?” But patients deserve more than a Human Echo Chamber. They deserve more than nodding, staring and “Mmm.” They need human reparative interaction.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x9MTg5hmBA&feature=related
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Remember Linda Lingle’s appropriate non-verbal pauses & diction/grammar? Too bad her lines were flat. She should’ve taken theater. My big hero Don Barnes born 1944 is full of life/zest, and a scholar of the written word.
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Credit to incredibly sagacious Don Barnes —
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Matthew 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say
unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me.
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Jesus can use creatures as a test of our compassion for all creatures large and small, powerful and powerless. Magnanimous Don Barnes is my alltime positive exemplar.
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Jesus tests us by using “lower” creatures [birds/etc.]/flashpoints to see who we really are [abusive or compassionate].
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Inexplicably, KingLit Ching never had a sense of phariseeism/spiritual self-righteousness/self-centeredness. Like the Jubilee every 49th yr. in which a family had a chance to start afresh w/radical generosity bestowed upon the family via lands going back to the original owners [Leviticus 25:8-55] via this ultimate relativization of private property [debts were forgiven/slaves freed every 7th Sabbath yr. Deuteronomy 15:1-18] — KingLit draws out his heartfulness for service unto others of unselfish acts which recognize God as supremely beautiful — ergo, if you listen to the music of Bach because you want people to think you are cultured which enchances your reputation, this is not real beauty but instead fake ego adornment. God is real beauty, just as Bach is in music. Reprise 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 — Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful, so the same God chose those who reside in the forsaken social margins.
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The quality of irony/compassion —
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Luke 10:25-37
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Portraying a Samaritan in positive light would have come as a shock to Jesus’ audience. It is typical of his provocative speech in which conventional expectations are inverted — counter-intuitive.
Some religious leaders once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus proceeded to tell the story of “The Good Samaritan,” capping the tale with “So I ask you, which of these was a neighbor to the man?”
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Wow. Jesus’ story doesn’t answer their question; rather, the story challenges their question, changes it from “Who is my neighbor” to “To whom are you a neighbor?” And just like that their universe was an expanded place.
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Therapeutic query is an art form. You can tell when you’ve done it right, because of the sudden silence, the slightly stunned expression on the patient’s face.
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The right question, and only if it is the right question, derails old ways of seeing self and the world.
My favorite compliment from someone addressed is unintended, more an observation: “That’s a really good question.”
If you want to change your life, then change your questions.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/asking-right-question-often-reveals-new-interpretations-117005138.html
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What Jesus prescribes in this parable Matthew 25:40 is disinterested, self-giving care for the “other” (agape). We are to act on behalf of those who have human needs and who reside along the social margins (the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned).
Moreover, we can describe this mode of action as love-based because the parable is quintessentially Christological. Jesus is referred to as the “Son of Man,” (v. 31), a “shepherd,” (v. 31), “king,” (vv. 34, 40), and “Lord” (v. 37). All of these monikers are used throughout the Old and New Testaments to prefigure Christ. Matthew thus appears to distinguish general humanitarianism from merciful actions informed by a distinctly Christian maxim. To be in Christ is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, embrace the stranger and care for the sick, among other things. One might surmise, then, that the previously mentioned theological doctrines of grace, justification, and atonement do not have to be mentioned overtly because they are inextricably linked to this Christian love ethic. This is to say, it is the acceptance of God’s grace and atoning work that compels us to look beyond ourselves to help those in need just as Christ did for us.
This latter point is important because all too often we separate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s love ethic from the Christian faith. Surely King was informed by varying philosophical and religious principles, which included Gandhian satyagraha (love force), Hindu and Buddhist ahimsa (non-violence), and Henry David Thoreau’s theory of civil disobedience. But King’s view of Christian salvation was tied to social justice. Christians have been saved (soterion) and set apart (ekklesia) for a particular purpose which is found in Micah 6:8, “to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” This is why King adopted the slogan “Redeeming the Soul of America” for his civil rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Coalition. King believed that the quest for civil and human rights for all of humanity, particularly the most vulnerable, were integral to the Christian mission and evidence of human redemption.
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http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=65
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From KingLit Ching —
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The quality of irony is not strained [irony must flow freely & not be forced out like a flop joke][Portia in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice] —
Curtis,
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This is a very enlightening discourse that gives me a better understanding of Christianity and what is in God’s mind. I have always had difficulty relating to what captured the imagination and souls of the early Christians who were converted by the Apostle Paul. I can better relate to Christ’s parables that carried simple messages to simple uneducated people. These people were “empowered” (mesmerized?) by these radical messages who previously saw their lot in life as useless and without purpose. They were suddenly recognized as individuals by a personal caring God. I see your point of Christ using “irony” in his parables. Regards, KL
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- Christ preached a gospel of liberation from injustice in startling parables and aphorisms. An iconoclast/progressive reformer, Christ broke with established Jewish theological canons and social conventions both in His teachings and behaviors, often by turning common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of His audience: He preached of “Heaven’s imperial rule” [traditionally translated as “Kingdom of God“] as being already present but unseen; He depicts God as a loving father; He squares shoulders with outsiders and criticizes insiders. Christ evokes not simply an apocalyptic eschatology/end-time, but more critically a sapiential eschatology, which encourages all of God’s children to repair the world. Since Christ lived and preached in an oral culture, scholars expect that short, memorable stories or phrases are more likely to be historical and factual.
- Irony: Based on several important narrative parables [such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan], scholars decided that irony, reversal, and frustration of expectations were characteristic of Christ’s style. Does a pericope/concise passage illustrate opposites or impossibilities? If it does, it’s more likely to be authentic. For example, “love your enemies.” Not just the Parables but the beatitudes feature the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that are characteristic of Christ.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony#Socratic_irony\
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Socratic irony
This is “The dissimulation of ignorance practised by Socrates as a means of confuting an adversary”. Socrates would pretend to be ignorant of the topic under discussion, in order to draw out the inherent nonsense in the arguments of his interlocutors. Chambers dictionary has: “a means by which a questioner pretends to know less than a respondent, when actually he knows more.”
Zoe Williams of The Guardian wrote: “The technique [of Socratic irony], demonstrated in the Platonic dialogues, was to pretend ignorance and, more sneakily, to feign credence in your opponent’s power of thought, in order to tie him in knots.”
A more modern example of Socratic irony can be seen on the 1970s American television show, Columbo. The fictional character, Lt. Columbo, is seemingly naïve and incompetent. His untidy appearance adds to this fumbling illusion. As a result, he is underestimated by the suspects in murder cases he is investigating. With their guard down and their false sense of confidence, Lt. Columbo is able to solve the cases leaving the murderers feeling duped and outwitted.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escapism
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The Time Machine depicts the Eloi, a lackadaisical, insouciant race of the future, and the horror their happy lifestyle belies.
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On gender [sexual] dynamics,
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/opinion/sunday/dowd-a-farewell-to-macho.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-belkin/jay-z-bitch_b_1210385.html
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The Virginia bill and the broader, bogus message often repeated on left-leaning talk shows that Republicans are campaigning against birth control have created a perfect storm for defeat. The math is clear: Sixty-seven percent of women are either Democrats (41 percent) or independents (26 percent); more women than men vote; 55 percent of women ages 18-22 voted in the 2008 presidential election.
Republicans are caught in a nearly impossible situation, none more than the more temperate-minded Mitt Romney. It is important to remember, however, why contraception came up in the first place. Republicans were forced to man their battlements by the Obama administration’s new health-care rule requiring that Catholic organizations pay for contraception in violation of conscience. From there, things spiraled out of the realm of religious liberty, where this debate belongs, and into the fray of moral differences.
Santorum’s original surge was based not on social issues but on his authenticity and his ability to identify with middle-class struggles. He was the un-Romney. But now this appealing profile has been occluded by social positions that make him an outlier to mainstream Americans.
Republicans may sleep better if they nominate The Most Conservative Person In The World, but they won’t be seeing the executive branch anytime soon. It’s too bad this election season got lost in the weeds of religious conviction. It wouldn’t have happened if the Obama administration had simply taken one of several other routes available for providing birth control to women who want it. Instead, Obama aimed right at the heart of the Republican Party and, one can only assume, got exactly what he wanted: a culture war in which Rick Santorum would be the natural point man and, in the broader public’s perception, the voice of the GOP.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Nobody_Knew#Reception
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[CIA director William Colby]
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The film’s “thorough investigation transcends [director Colby’s] personal catharsis to become an enduring treatise on how character flaws affect policy.” The Man Nobody Knew was designated a “Critics’ Pick” by The New York Times‘ film reviewers.
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good book [& movie] on a sad chapter in American history.
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http://www.thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Farewell_To_Manzanar/Farewell_To_Manzanar05.html
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“No-No” WWII war resisters Korematsu/Hirabayashi tried to appeal thru the courts, but they were
clueless like Yoko Ono. The court system was an appendage of “martial law.” Which is
why Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 formed the 100th Batt./442nd all-Japanese combat units
who proved their mettle on the field of battle, suffering proportionately way more deaths/injuries than
other battlefield units. Our boys were the expendable ones. But our boys won us equal footing/assimilation
with Whites post-WWII, not the Manzanar internees. Yes, Rev. Ching was full Chinese 2nd generation & a
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Tremendous Steven Kalas’ metaphor/symbolism on the issue/challenge of casual sex —
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One of the risks of casual sex is sometimes one partner falls in love. Ouch. That is difficult. Sex is gestalt. It cranks you open. And you don’t always get to decide when your heart spontaneously opens to another human being. So casual sex comes with this warning label:
Warning! You might someday look across a pillow and find yourself head over heels in love with someone who is not in love with you, and that will hurt, and you will likely lose your friend.
And sometimes casual sex can unfold the happy surprise that both people fall in love. Sometimes casual sex is the serendipitous road to something deeper, even if both parties could’ve sworn they were not looking for it.
So, think of yourself as walking on a long, tiring journey. You find yourself in front of a McDonald’s. You’re hungry. Yet, you see a sign out front that says, “Five-star French restaurant ahead,” but it doesn’t say how far ahead. So, you have to ask yourself, “How hungry am I?” Go in and get a Big Mac if you want. It’s fast, easy and quite tasty. But go in with every intention. With your head held high and your eyes wide open. Take radical responsibility for going in there. Surrender all rights to ever be mad or disappointed in McDonald’s for not being a five-star French restaurant. Because that is ridiculous, not to mention hypocritical.
Or, take a breath and decide you’re not as hungry as you thought. And keep walking.
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http://www.lvrj.com/view/casual-sex-relationships-a-part-of-modern-culture-135491598.html
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When I say that we don’t get to decide when we fall in love, or with whom, I emphasize the experience of falling in love. Falling in love is a gestalt — that is, a spontaneous movement of the human soul that happens independent of sheer will.
We don’t decide to fall in love. Falling in love is a happening. It can happen when you’re hoping for it and when you’re not even looking for it. Good friends can be good friends for months and even years, and then suddenly go wide-eyed to discover that they are in love. Men and women who are actually quite content in their marriages can suddenly find themselves confronted with a significant emotional bond with someone else. The bond is inexplicable. Surprising. Even disturbing and unwanted. But nonetheless real.
We don’t decide the who and when of falling in love. You can’t will it because there is no muscle to flex. It happens. For that matter, you can’t decide to fall out of love either. If you find yourself in love with someone in an inappropriate or untenable context, you can certainly decide not to act on the emotion. But you can’t decide to have the feeling, nor can you merely decide to end the feeling. The only way to stop being in love is starve it to death — that is, to arrange your life so as to essentially ignore it until it erodes, atrophies and dies of natural causes.
But you are absolutely right in insisting that, once in love, we have a radical responsibility for what happens next. We can act on it. Embrace it, as you say. Behave in ways that are loving. Or not. Yes, we can decide to be open to the possibility, or decide to be closed to the possibility. But, I say again, tons of folks who swore they were lock-tight closed to the idea of love sometimes find themselves nonetheless in love.
We don’t decide to fall in love. But once in love, we do decide what to do next. We are free, as you say, to embrace it or relinquish it and walk away. I’m continuously amazed, frankly, at the frequency with which people fall in love and then decide not to choose it, embrace it or realize its potential.
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http://www.lvrj.com/view/love-may-sneak-upon-us-but-it-must-be-nurtured-to-grow-139270018.html
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The legacy of Chiune Sugihara —
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Iconic images, such as a German cattle car used to transport victims to their extermination, must be seen and touched for Museum visitors to comprehend the enormity of the atrocities. The truth can only prevail through continual education of children at formative ages and broad exposure to man’s inhumanity whenever and wherever it arises. As I personally seek to “pay forward” Sugihara’s righteous deeds on behalf of my grandfather and countless others, I commit that his actions and its implicit message about the sanctity of human life and the need to combat bigotry will not be lost on my generation and those which follow.
The courage to act, even when the world remains silent, is a powerful lesson that needs to be taught to the young. Sugihara was not alone; others acted to save lives, often at great personal risk or suffering the ultimate penalty of death. Who were these points of light, in what was otherwise a vast sea of darkness? The list of righteous among nations from World War II includes Raoul Wallenberg, King Christian X of Denmark, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the entire village of Le Chambon, France (See “The Righteous” by Martin Gilbert). When interviewed years later, those still alive seemed genuinely surprised by the fuss, as they were merely following their moral compass and upbringing in daring to do what was right.
Winston Churchill once wrote: “We make a living by what we get; We make a life by what we give.”
By this standard, Sugihara and the other saviors represent heroes for the ages, whose stories must be told. They gave the ultimate gift: the gift of life.
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great Joseph Campbell [mythology thruout history] —
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As the ultimate truth cannot be expressed in plain words, spiritual rituals and stories refer to it through the use of “metaphors,” a term Campbell used heavily and insisted on its proper meaning: In contrast with comparisons, which use the word like, metaphors pretend to a literal interpretation of what they are referring to, as in the sentence “Jesus is the Son of God” rather than “the relationship of man to God is like that of a son to a father.” According to Campbell, the Genesis myth from the Bible ought not be taken as a literal description of historical events happening in our current understanding of time and space, but as a metaphor for the rise of man’s cognitive consciousness as it evolved from a prior animal state.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell#Monomyth
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt5icTBv-RU
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEBmaGR62x4
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Denise Takashima supported Ah Chew Goo born 1918 vs. naysayers who professed that Ah Chew’s limited schooling [could not afford to go beyond high school] also disqualified him from enshrinement to our State sports hall of fame, which only recognizes college level exceptionalism in basketball [NCAA All-American Derrick Low]. Such is the irony of Denise’s meme/tome/ouvre — to recognize the unrecognizable, to be a neighbor of faith/hope/compassion, as opposed to the egocentric notion of “so who is your neighbor?”
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With the imperturbable/unflappable romanticism of Denise Takashima’s visual imagination, the intensity of her emotional expression, and her mission to express the unique human personality, Denise born 1953 brings a fresh pristine impetus to the beauty of irony — the unchanging Art Schopenhauer aesthetic/eternal art of nature is superior to the transient sumptuousness of the human construct/artifice. Our crowning works of art are more than a sentient mechanical contrivance — the hustle and bustle of life is short-lived, while nature is eternal — the palace portals lie in ruin, but the rivers and mountains remain. And so the poet exalts the aesthetic and leaves behind the human machination — everyone feels the sadness of separation-loss, the joy of reunion — but the poet deeply and broadly affects the human lot because the poet puts word to feelings for all to experience — the intimate yet passionate furnace of love, via the condensed words of the poet. Such is the poet’s earnest hope. And Denise embodies its faith and fruition.
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the beauty of being a daddy [my missive to KingLit Ching from Denise Takashima] —
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To KL — Denise praised you after you called her to connect with her. Denise really cherishes you as a good man and as a good daddy. Here below is what Denise just emailed me right now.
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from sweetest Denise —
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Aloha Curtis,
well, you were a good “daddy.” [for my daughter & granddaughter]
I’m sure that she appreciates having you there to help.
You were also moral support.
She may not know it yet, but I do know….
that a father is strength.
when my dad passed, I really REALLY missed those phone calls and
the encouragement to go on. I didn’t realize how much that meant to me
until he was gone.
There were days I felt so weak, physically.
And I didn’t think about it….but then all of sudden
I would dream about him, or something would happen
and missing him hit me like a bolt of lightning.
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from dearest Denise —
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Men who have daughters, and a close relationship with them are very lucky men. Men who have sons are lucky, too. But the men who have daughters become different men. They understand unconditional love and are not ashamed to show their love to their daughters. They have concerns that other men wouldn't even think of. They remember their daughters' birthdays, always. They protect. They will do whatever it takes no matter what age the daughter becomes. They have patience. They love a deeper love. I have seen my husband change over the years based on having two daughters. I can even detect if the man I meet has a daughter. They will treat their daughters different than their sons. I have seen the grouchiest men turn, when you mention their daughter, or their daughter's daughter (grand daughter). I can list many men that will change their tone of voice based on the pure mention of their daughter's name. They can be very mighty, but change to very soft, based on their daughter. And we, daughters are very lucky to have the strength that our fathers gave us. aloha, from one daughter
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The beauty of art amid authoritarian anarchy —
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Aloha Curtis,
Mahalo for sharing this story.
It is very poignant and renews my spirit in writing this difficult report.
I hope I can do it justice for Denise and her family.
Warm Aloha,
Suzanne
Suzanne E. Bott, PhD, AICP
NPS Pacific West Region – Honolulu
300 Ala Moana Blvd, Ste. 6-226, Box 50165
HNL, HI 96850-0053
(808) 541-2693 ext. 737
suzanne_bott@nps.gov
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Honouliuli — Sad and Little-Told Story about Hawaii in WWII/jsh
internment camp experience — Denise Takashima
I have many relatives from my mom’s side that have been through internment camps. They are all in the Pacific Northwest.
My uncle Ed Tsutakawa did some remarkable artwork while in camp. He did a lot of watercolor originals which he recently made a calendar of. Unbelieveable that through the ugliness of the camps, he painted beauty.
Some of the Tsutakawas are famous artist. His cousin george tsutakawa did that beautiful sculpture in front of Assagio’s at the Ala Moana Center downstairs in the fish pond.
Aloha,
denise
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Aloha Curtis
Uncle Ed was at a different camp since he was from washington and Ruth Asawa was from california. There is also about a 10-12 year difference in age. And maybe because she was a young girl….her scenes are of trees, flowers, children. His subjects were the families, the condition of their accommodations (I really can’t say houses or apts.), horse stables turned into living quarters.
But I did notice the same designs of the watchtowers. They were exactly the same.
She has a very famous fountain in Union Square at the Hyatt. She designed it decades ago. She used a lot of children to help her. The fountain is very whimsical. She had the children use her baking dough recipe and they made characters that resemble cookies. And they are people, children, the famous transamerica building, cable cars, cars, etc. No matter what age you are, it makes you smile. She works with a lot of children. She’s done a lot of wonderful art enrichment programs with the public schools in the bay area. She advocates art in education. What I found interesting in her is that she some of her education was at North Caolrina’s Black Mountain College in the late 1960’s. This school had a lot of talented artists, including Buckminister Fuller, who is another one of my favorite architects. Architects was one of my email subject to King Lit, once he told me that his business was furniture. Ruth Azawa met and married famous architect Albert Lanier. he has since passed a few years ago. He was much older than her.
But, this is a very different subject…but new news.
You know one of my music loves is carlos santana. Well, just recently, the day before I left to come home, he visited his old school, Mission High School and spoke with the kids. There was an article in the Sf Chronicle Tues, Oct 25. It’s called musician on a mission, by jill tucker. First time he had been back since he graduated in 1960’s. He too has a nonprofit called the Milagro Foundation. And same thing, it advocates music to children.
Sigh, just been thinking about more positive and beautiful things rather than the negatives on the tv news…
thanks for letting me daydream!
aloha,
denise
Curtis Narimatsu asks —
Talented. How is Asawa’s vision different from your Uncle Ed?
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from KingLit Ching —
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I HAVE MUCH in common with Denise. She IS a lovely person with great insights and a world of compassion and understanding. She is your biggest fan. Tom Coffman is also a big fan of you Curtis, telling me that Curtis “knows everything about everything.” Ho man, no get big head, eh. Denise complimented me on my knowledge of home furnishings but I am not a mahu. How she know I not mahu? By the way, I do not care to discuss interior design and home furnishings with straight guys like you, Curtis. Gay guys are much more knowledgeable! Of course, gay or straight, no matter. I just funning to needle you! — KL
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from Denise —
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aloha curtis,
i’m just an admirer of those who have achieved much more. and am
able to pass on part of my memory chip!
my goal is to one day leave a mark that will do for all humanity. even
if it’s just a small act of kindness. we are all humans on this earth
and we are all the same.
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Aloha Curtis —
The list of authors are some of my favorites.
Everyday I try to learn something new, even if it’s a new word.
Today, I’ve gain a lot of knowledge.
Thank you for always including the websites on your emails for reference.
You’re a wonderful teacher.
Thank you from your humble student.
aloha,
denise
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Curtis said —
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Denise reminds me of stout-hearted inimitable Scot-Irish settlers to America in our pre-Revolutionary War era, our so-called later hardy resilient ones like great historian David McCullough & deepest writer John Steinback. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scotch-Irish_Americans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch-Irish_American#Origins
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from lovely Leilehua Yuen –My father’s mother was Irish/English. Kavenaugh (sp?) on her father’s side. Indeed, the more I teach Hawaiian culture and history, the more I connect to global culture and history!
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musical scale as symbol of sentiment —
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Denise Takashima’s favorite singer Carlos Santana’s melodies are somber sharps & minors [musical scale], vs. youngster [my hero] Jonny Lang, whose melodies are exhilarating full notes & 7ths.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Lang
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Exhibit A: Santana’s hurt & disappointment at the break-up of his longtime marriage to his childhood sweetheart.
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Somber tones symbolize “higher truths” [the courage to love] & “ultimate disguised blessings” [reaffirming self-worth & self-respect when we are present/attentive in desiring to understand — to answer the question of what’s really going on here, so to speak].
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CNN needs to terminate Piers Morgan until there are 1) assurances that no criminal charges against him are filed and 2) that viewers are given an amount of time so he can be forgiven.
“compromise a source” insinuates concealment and deceit by Piers Morgan. Heather Mills’ denial of being the source further damages Morgan by insinuating that whoever is the source was unauthorized to divulge such confidential communication between Paul McCartney & Heather Mills. Mills ends up with the last laugh here. How does a PR “shield” be worded to exonerate Morgan? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Morgan#Phone_hacking_allegations On 20 December 2011 Morgan was a witness by satellite link from the United States at the Leveson Inquiry. While he ‘did “not believe to the best of my recollection”‘ that phone hacking had occurred at the Mirror, he admitted to listening to a voice mail left by Paul McCartney for Heather Mills, then the musicians wife, but refused to ‘”discuss where he was played that tape or who played it – it would compromise a source.” Appearing as a witness at the same Inquiry on 9 February 2012, Mills was asked under oath if she had ever made a recording of Paul McCartney’s phonecalls or answerphone messages and had ever played it to Piers Morgan or “anybody else”, she replied: “Never.” Mills told the inquiry that Morgan was “a man that has written nothing but awful things about me for years and would have relished telling the inquiry if she had played a personal voicemail message to him.”
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all praise/credit to great publisher Mike Aiello of Hawai’i News Daily [this blog’s parent website] —
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Unsung heroes like Helen Shirota-Benevides & Rev. Myoshin Lang — framework/method of composition for publication —
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In Praise of Helen Shirota-Benevides | Hawai`i News Daily
Jan 27, 2012 – Helen Shirota-Benevides was born in 1939. Helen’s maiden name is Shirota and she hails from Papa’ikou village 5 miles north of Hilo. She is a …
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Current Google header for Rev. Lang —
News for Rev. John Myoshin Lang
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In Praise of Hilo’s Rev. John Myoshin (“Bright Mind”) LangHawaii News Daily – 1 day agoBy Curtis Narimatsu The resident minister of Hilo’s historic landmark Buddhist Taishoji Church, John Myoshin (“Bright Mind”) Lang is quite the …
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In Praise of Hilo’s Rev. John Myoshin (“Bright Mind”) Lang | Hawai`i …
hawaiinewsdaily.com/…/in-praise-of-hilos-rev-john-myoshin-bright-…Cached1 day ago – Rev. John Myoshin Lang. The resident minister of Hilo’s historic landmark Buddhist Taishoji Church, John Myoshin (“Bright Mind”) Lang is quite …
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Hawai’i Soto Mission Bishop Zenkyo Komagata the Issei immigrant [but most auspicious Issei were Imamura/Makino/Okumura/Soga]
**This “old old man” Bishop Komagata was an easygoing codger who loved my parents’ furo in our basement. Genro/old leader was not arrogant/”full of himself” but instead quite the friendly & easygoing persons you are, Rev. Myoshin of Hilo Taishoji Church and Helen Shirota-Benevides of Papa’ikou Hongwanji Church. http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2012/02/in-praise-of-hilos-rev-john-myoshin-bright-mind-lang/ http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2012/01/in-praise-of-helen-shirota-benevides/ I had never experienced grandparents because my parents had me in middle age and my grandparents by then had passed away. Which is why the original Bishop Komagata left an indelible impression on me — to me, he was a bald-headed Santa Claus, as old as they come [the elderly]. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jan/07/il/il01a.html
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Huli ‘au [upside down in Hawaiian] — Shin/ Hongwanji’s Yemyo Imamura actually had friction with eventual State Shinto Imperial Japan —
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Hawai’i Christian leader Takie Okumura couldn’t understand the creole Nippon language here spoken by the Nisei/children of immigrants [“Mama hanahana yokonani” — mama is working & can’t come to church], so he started up Nihon gakko Japanese language schools. Of course, there were English language classes too. Ironically, Buddhist Yemyo Imamura’s own language school conflicted/rivaled Consul General Miki Saito’s language schools opened by Takie, & Japan officials thereafter gave Imamura the cold shoulder. –Curt
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Yemyo Imamura rebuked Japan’s repression in Hawai’i vs. Buddhists — Industrial Japan repressed traditional Buddhism here. Thence, our Imamura’s backfire vs. Japan Consulate. Although Christians [gaijin/hakujin] were more severely punished in Japan, Japan’s Consulate here expediently worked w/Takie Okumura’s Christians for language schools.*
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*Mary Foster [Botanical Gardens] of the magnate shipbuilder Robinson family [
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2010/06/24/dispatches-from-curt-%E2%80%94-william-s-richardson-1919-2010-and-insubordinate-gen-mcchrystal/], an oddball Buddhist, bankrolled our Hongwanji mission/Yemyo Imamura via her Nu’uanu area ahupua’a holdings. Of course, Imamura revulsed vs. Imperial Japan’s evolving State Shinto, Shinto being pagan vs. Buddhist “monotheism,” though Foster’s Hinayana/Theravada roots don’t promote Buddha as a deity, but simply as a sage a la Confucius. Actually, our Imperial Japan consulate got along better w/Takie Okumura’s Congregational Christian church via Japanese language schools, vs. Imamura’s revulsion vs. Imperial Japan’s evolving State Shinto.
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Yes, our only top haole Buddhist Ernest Hunt a century ago actually was an infantry soldier for England in the Boer War [Ernie born 1876], which turned him into a Pacifist, & Ernie actually was Hilo’s Wainaku sugar luna in 1915. Ernie was among George Patton’s gotcha’ list 1937 for internment if Japan warred vs. U.S., Ernie a traitor to U.S. in Patton’s eyes.
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Thanks to Fred Kinzaburo Makino’s fellow English brew/kin attorney Joe Lightfoot, Steere Noda was mentored by “Jap-hater” Lightfoot as a court clerk/interpreter/district court practitioner, all because Noda wholly backed up Makino’s crusade to stop forced Christian marriages [Takie Okumura] on incoming Japan picture brides, along w/Makino’s crusade to save our Nihon gakko/Japanese language schools [haole oligarchy/Big 5 sought to eliminate coercively such bi-lingual mode to defeat “Tokyo-inizing” Hawai`i kids], a crusade that Shin/Hongwanji chief Yemyo Imamura 1867-1932 fully sponsored [immigrants mostly Shin/Hongwanji Buddhists, not Christian]. Of course, Noda was a “made” man by Imamura himself a la Brando’s Godfather cinema. Christian leader Takie Okumura 1865-1951 vehemently opposed Makino/Imamura on grounds that “when in Rome, do as the Romans do, ergo do unto Caesar as secular currency emblems Caesar’s inscription.” Makino’s chief rival — publisher Yasutaro Soga of Nippu Jiji 1873-1957 — though Makino’s compadre/spiritual kazoku in the unified Nikkei Sugar Strike 1909, sided w/assimilationist/accomodationist Okumura. Ironically, Soga was imprisoned/interned WWII, not “hapa-haole” White man Makino the provocateur/instigator. That 1st Hongwanji high school alumnus Noda also was the 1st National Guard volunteer pleasantly aroused esteemed attorney Lightfoot’s cackles [Lightfoot’s progeny C. Joseph Lightfoot 1917-1944 Navy KIA WWII]. In other words, power relationship cemented Noda’s legacy [Englishmen Makino-Lightfoot][Noda’s unfailing allegiance to Hongwanji protector Makino]. Irony is that Imperial Japan persecuted Christians/Catholics, but worked w/Hawai`i Christians to promote language schools so long as our Big 5 would permit such endeavors — yet tolerated Buddhists in Japan despite forced State Shinto [not Buddhist, but “paganism”], but undercut Imamura in Hawai`i [Imamura protested the military’s takeover of Buddhist churches]. So Makino tried to “Tokyo-inize” Nikkei here, despite being wholly at odds w/Japan militarists vicariously via Imamura, & Okumura/Soga tried to Americanize Nikkei here, despite being supported by Japan militarists [vs. blowback from Buddhist Imamura]. Man oh man, manifold prism, huh??!! Odd/contradictory alliances!! [Fred Steere Jr.’s wife just passed away — Fred Jr. 1907-1988 was a great Punahou athlete & Big 5 exec, but it was his dad who Steere Noda named Noda himself after, not Jr. Steere Sr. was Noda’s alter ego/role model/mentor, Sr. an early Waterhouse/banking exec.]
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stats for Helen Shirota-Benevides & Rev. Myoshin Lang & genesis of Taishoji/Puna & Papa’ikou Hongwanji churches —
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Helen’s bioblip now is off the front page & archived at 714 full-reads.*
Rev. Lang’s bioblip still is on the lower part of the front page [published 8 days after Helen’s article] at 745 full-reads.*I surmise that “sex sells” for lovely Helen’s photo, and that “novelty” also sells for inexplicable Caucasian Buddhist Rev. Myoshin.
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Hawai’i missionary history has everything to do with flourishing spirituality [Hawai’i & Utah are the only States which still ban gambling] — Taishoji’s
affordable fee simple manifested alongside sacred Church St. – today’s Haili St. — Church St. discouraged capitalist avarice in its proximity. Helen’s
Papa’ikou Hongwanji property was lubed via beneficent Brewer execs like Bob Hughes [Congregationalist], and my very familiar Puna Hongwanji digs
were deeded via Congregationalist scion Papa Herb Shipman’s legacy/”Grace.” Herb Shipman’s right hand rancher was my uncle Solomon Kauinui, &Herb’s key domestic was Uncle Solomon’s wife Chiyoko [my dad’s baby sister]. Em Cahill’s book on the Shipman ohana was a disaster, & failed to keyin on Papa Herb’s immense empathy/compassion. Herb was Gay, so all the world’s children comprised his keiki/mo’opuna. Do you know why the Shipmancreed was to protect us buddaheads? Because Ola’a [Herb’s mom revulsed at use of this sacred place name for Glenwood ‘aina] buddaheads dutifullyplaced flowers on the Shipman ohana gravesite. Yes, simplicity often brings tremendous rewards, even though subsequent Shipman progeny like RoyBlackshear/Bill Walter lost sight of Herb’s “Grace.” And Puna Hongwanji’s legacy for us remaining buddaheads? For me, I was overcome by my ancestor’sspirit —— when I searched for Hasegawa okasan grave [died 1919 flu pandemic], as I plunked thru the Puna Hongwanji kakocho [church obit kanji on wood slab], surreal — I felt
tremendous embrace/enveloped warmth, which was kazoku
okasan saying arigato/oyakoko for being thoughtful enough to find her remains
when no else did. Her Ola`a gravestone was put into big pit upside of today’s
National Guard Armory [opposite Shin Ola`a 9 mile camp/Kyu-old 9 mile
camp is Volcano direction of today’s HFS FCU on old Volcano Rd.], where
Japanese cemetery was [before cemetery was closed down w/demise
of Puna Sugar Co. 1982]. Yes, reading her kakocho/church obit in
church vault was a beautiful/other-worldly experience. Of course, hubby/
otosan is buried w/his 2nd wife at Alae Cemetery. He died when his truck
rolled over down Wainaku embankment in a driving rainstorm 1937. I gotta
pay homage to my dad’s sense of history from Kea`au [fka Ola`a] –
Dad Toshi 1913-1998 had a heart of gold — I respect Dad’s reminiscences more than
anything I’ve ever witnessed .
*T. [Oliver Taylor] Shipman 1857-1942 [Papa Herb Shipman’s 1892-1976 uncle] was our first elected County Democrat amid a sea of GOP officeholders, O.T. following the example of O’ahu Democrat genesis David Kawananakoa in 1900. O.T. went on to a storied life among our teeming masses as our beneficent/loving patron saint. O.T.’s nephew Herb [single, no kids] was compassionate/indulgent like O.T. Immigrant missionary Rev. William C. Shipman/wife Jane had 3 children, William Herbert [W.H.] Shipman 1854-1943 [father of Herb], O.T., & Margaret Clarissa 1859-1891, who married Lorrin A. Thurston, Lili’u overthrower. W.H. Shipman married part-Hawaiian Mary Kahiwaaialii Johnson 1852-1933, whose progeny today include Bill Walter born 1948 & Tom English also born 1948. Yes, these Shipman Ltd. leaders are part-Hawaiian. http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2010/06/24/dispatches-from-curt-%E2%80%94-william-s-richardson-1919-2010-and-insubordinate-gen-mcchrystal/#comment-37283**Hilo’s historic Taishoji Church connected at the hip with Western Culture’s introduction to Asian Martial Arts via American genesis Kichimatsu Tanaka
*Kichimatsu Tanaka bestowed [American genesis here] jujitsu [ergo later judo] to Western Culture right here at the Taishoji Mission site area, which is why the Taishoji Mission is intimately interwoven with martial arts, thanks to Kichimatsu Tanaka [whose kai/dojo by Furneaux Lane actually preceded the current church complex re-location to Kilauea Ave. opposite Tanaka’s facility].
*2 current tributes to unsung Japan-American heroes [beside earlier ode to Kichimatsu Tanaka] are on Helen & Rev. Myoshin.*Credit to immense altruist & great publisher Mike Aiello of Hawaiinewsdaily.com for publishing the bioblips on Helen& Rev. Myoshin*
**my extended bio on Rev. Myoshin Lang –*
Rev John Myoshin Lang
Rev John Myoshin Lang; Taishoji Soto Mission, Hilo, Hawai’I 96720 Biography: Born John Weston Lang in Minneapolis Minnesota March 20,1956. Graduated High school from Hopkins isenhower High school, Hopkins Minnesota, June 1974. Attended University of Minnesota 1974-1976. Graduated from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena California with a BFA (with Honors) in Photography in 1993 and an MFA in Photography in 1997. Spiritual Practice: Started regular attendance at Zenshuji Soto Mission May 1993. Received Jukai-e in October 1994. Elected to Board of Directors of Zenshuji from Jan. 1995-2003. Received Tokudo Jan. 2000 from Bishop Gengo Akiba. Entered Hokyo-ji Monastery( Shinkai Tanaka ,Dochosan), (Ono, Japan) Sept. 2003 until Sept.2004. Received Dharma Transmission and completed Zuise April, 2006 from Bishop Akiba. Received Nitokyoshi certification status 2006,Assigned to Zenshuji Soto Mission. Dec. 2009 reassigned to Taishoji Soto Mission, Hilo Hawaii as Resident Minister.Available: Hawaii Events http://www.ocean-mirror.org/guest-counselors.html
*In praise of Rev. John Myoshin [Bright Mind] Lang*Hilo historic landmark Buddhist Taishoji Church http://downtownhilo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Downtown-walking-map-2011.pdf resident minister John Myoshin [Bright Mind] Lang is quite the destiny-builder for us Buddhists [I grew up in my mother’s Taishoji church community][my maternal grandparents/ojisan-obasan Hanato kazoku/family of Honalo Kona started the Taishoji’s sister Honalo Daifukuji Church http://www.daifukuji.org/history.html] — Rev. Myoshin’s vision/practical wisdom are the aloha/welcome invite to today’s and future generations of folks on their walk in Faith to find meaning and fulfillment in this short earthly existence and in the afterlife, not to mention that Rev. Lang is among our rarest pioneer haole/Caucasian Buddhist ministers [Rev. Ernest Hunt a century ago, a former Boer War soldier, is our earliest ubiquitous Anglo Buddhist leader, who, along with initiate dearest wife Rev. Dorothy Hunt instilled great self-worth in our Hawai’i Japanese http://www.slbuddhist.org/thoughts/2011/2011-10.pdf — but Rev. Lang’s teaching is application-clinical-field service in composition — in contrast with Rev. Hunt’s textual Horace Mann-John Dewey academic approach — understandable given the century gap in teaching methods]. Myoshin is Japanese for Bright Mind bestowed upon Rev. Lang by Rev. Lang’s mentor/sempai Bishop Gengo Akiba Roshi, head of Soto Zen in North America http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=5,5649,0,0,1,0.*Rev. Lang’s brief biography is here http://www.ocean-mirror.org/guest-counselors.html Rev John Myoshin Lang; Taishoji Soto Mission, Hilo, Hawai’I 96720Biography: Born John Weston Lang in Minneapolis Minnesota March 20,1956. Graduated High school from Hopkins isenhower High school, Hopkins Minnesota, June 1974. Attended University of Minnesota 1974-1976. Graduated from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena California with a BFA (with Honors) in Photography in 1993 and an MFA in Photography in 1997. Spiritual Practice: Started regular attendance at Zenshuji Soto Mission May 1993. Received Jukai-e in October 1994. Elected to Board of Directors of Zenshuji from Jan. 1995-2003. Received Tokudo Jan. 2000 from Bishop Gengo Akiba. Entered Hokyo-ji Monastery( Shinkai Tanaka ,Dochosan), (Ono, Japan) Sept. 2003 until Sept.2004. Received Dharma Transmission and completed Zuise April, 2006 from Bishop Akiba. Received Nitokyoshi certification status 2006,Assigned to Zenshuji Soto Mission. Dec. 2009 reassigned to Taishoji Soto Mission, Hilo Hawaii as Resident Minister.*In bright-eyed and bushy-tailed freshlet Rev. Lang venerated Bishop Akiba saw tremendous intellectual acumen, gray matter which can mission for Soto Zen to reach out to the world’s suffering teeming masses. On top of this, Bishop Akiba witnessed an incredulously easygoing personality/manner in Rev. Lang which are the seeds of friendship and peace amid our fragile human nature. Do not be fooled by Rev. Lang’s dorky naivete look in the photo here — in person Rev. Lang is a tall beefcake version of Hollywood heartstopper handsome 5’6″ Anglo Alan Ladd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ladd, Jungle Jim Johnny Lang [yes, like great blues singer/guitarist Jonny Langhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Lang] ergo Rev. Lang of adorable amalgam American Indian/northern European extraction. Rev. Lang is as paralyzingly captivating as they come, in every “which way” you can imagine. I disagree with holy Bishop Akiba on Rev. Lang’s greatest feature — bright HEART, NOT bright mind — as in an amazing confluence of heart & head — resulting in truly great wisdom. Just as the Buddha upended staid static Hindu brahmin “illuminati”/elitism/contemptuous arrogance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha#Departure_and_ascetic_life — so does esteemed acolyte/prodigy Rev. John Lang upend/huli ‘au [Hawaiian slang for “upside down”] today’s illuminatihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati by embracing simplicity and harmony with nature a la ascetic Buddha, everlasting qualities sorely wanting/missing amid today’s societal broken values [money is god/conspicuous consumption/status tripper-social climber mentality/financial problems along with broken families-homes put us all in hopeless misery, so to speak]. Which is why the future of Buddhism shall evolve into heartfelt/life-changing zen retreats shorn of glitzy temple adornments which do nothing but ingratiate the contemptuous illuminati, and shorn of formalistic current church rituals.*http://www.zenshuji.org/news200910.html MYOSHIN SENSEI MAHOLO & GOOD LUCK LUNCHEONHow long have you known Myoshin John Lang Sensei? Two years? Four years? Longer? No matter how long you’ve known Myoshin Sensei, he has left a lasting impression. His gentle personality, soft voice, assisting with various activities, and volunteering whenever possible are some of the traits we will miss. The things that we will miss the most are the things he has developed at the temple in his quiet ways such as: (1) a strong Zazenkai teaching the appropriate way to meditate, (2) introducing the English version of Sutra Chanting, (3) providing the members the choice of having the funeral or wedding in English, (4) giving high school and college students the opportunity to visit Zenshuji and understand the philosophy of Buddhism, (5) Busshin editor, (6) audio/visual technician, (7) member/advisor of various committees, and (8) great spiritual leader to many.Where is he going? Well, Myoshin Sensei has been given the opportunity to be the resident minister at the Taishoji Temple in Hilo. Hawaii. The request was made from Bishop Komagata of Soto Zen Buddhism Hawaii Office. With the approval of Bishop Akiba and the Board of Directors, Myoshin Sensei went for an interview and a letter of request to transfer was sent to Japan’s Shumucho. Even though we will miss Myoshin Sensei’s presence very much. we cannot detain him from seeking new experiences.*Of course, as is the nature of evolution through time, the Japan Soto Zen parent church has its North American church branches wean off of the Japan financial wellspring by manifesting their own income sources, as is the case with our Hilo Taishoji Church, which has 3 office/residential buildings as income sources in the Taishoji Church’s property portfolio. Rev. Lang epitomizes the Sacred Buddha’s great inclusion and welcoming approach, color-blindness racially & otherwise, open nature, Bright Heart, inner strength, stoicism, and extraordinary compassion for all creatures and things, small as well as large in size. Rev. Lang’s sempai Bishop Akiba set the tone of huli-au/upending social convention by chastening, “I got nothing to teach you.” The contradiction is the case — pay attention, because Bishop Akiba got everything to teach you, Brother/Sister! [chuckle] As does extraordinary peacemaker statesman Rev. John Myoshin Lang. Kansha [deepest gratitude] to Rev. Lang.***
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Shinmachi had Issei settlers even before 1914, including our Taishoji –founders
*Shinmachi had pockets of Issei settlers at the turn of the last century, including our Taishoji founders.
*giri ninjo [Issei creed — serve humanity] – kuni no tame [Nisei creed — serve our U.S.A. country]*Hilo Taishoji church actually started in Shinmachi [today’s Kamehameha Statue grounds]. Chigo “sacred child” festivity thru Motomachi [Kamehameha Ave.] & Punahoa St. behind downtown Hata Bldg. [Little Tokyo] was a cultural activity partaken by the Taishoji fraternity in Shinmachi. I briefly discussed this online below. Richard Imai 1910-2009 was a Taishoji product whose dad was a Hilo Taishoji founder, & Richard participated in such “chigo” parades even after the current Kilauea Ave. Taishoji church was built. Of course, Western Culture jujitsu/judo genesis Kichimatsu Tanaka’s consecrated grounds, so to speak, were at the current Taishoji locality along Kilauea Ave. [makai side — Furneaux Lane Garden Exchange area].****More on unsung hero Kichimatsu Tanaka –* -
Grooming for great leadership —
In conversing with a parent whose child is an alltime prep judo star,
I mentioned our Issei/immigrant Kichimatsu Tanaka 1875-1954 who
introduced what we know today as judo [Kichimatsu’s yoshin ryu jujitsu
learned under his master Jigoro Kano 1860-1938, the father of judo in
Japan] to the Western World starting right here in Hilo at Furneaux Lane,
then Kilauea Ave., & finally at fabulous dojo/hall Shinyu Kai bldg. 1915
owned by our esteemed Mainichi newspaper/Nobuji Tokushiro at “Nippon Alley” ergo
Ponahawai St. which included Dodo Mortuary [1st mortuary elevator
here 1923] & Mainichi newspaper bldg. 1918 [formerly across the
street at Punahoa lane — also called “Nippon Alley”]. I mentioned that
Oyabun Kichimatsu’s granddaughter is Karen Tanaka Tanabe born 1951, to which
the parent/communicant exuded, “Yes, she’s great at sewing these
judo outfits.” Kichimatsu, my unspoken hero, the lowly itinerant masseur
who brought judo to Western Society!! Still forgotten today by mainstream
judoka/pundits. Kichimatsu learned his art [“The Gentle Way”] from the
Master, Kano. Kichimatsu in turn passed it on to his star pupil, Seichiro/Seishiro
Okazaki 1890-1951, founder of Danzan ryu jujitsu in the U.S. [so-called
eclectic martial art], who in turn spawned all the self-attentive judoka
we see today. Tanaka sensei not a household name, sadly. Why do
I reprise this obscure note? The Bible of Sports, ubiquitous Sports
Illustrated Magazine, just featured among the greatest-ever mixed martial
arts titlists, Hilo’s BJ Penn, linking him to antecedent/forebearer Seishiro
Okazaki [Penn’s strengths are floor action/jujitsu/grappling], with no
mention of the man who created Okazaki, both in martial arts & in
later Hollywood renown as masseur to historymakers like FDR/Douglas
Fairbanks/Jean Harlow/Johnny Weismuller — Kichimatsu Tanaka. Our Genesis.
In politics, LBJ’s dad groomed eventual House Speaker Sam Rayburn, who
in turn groomed LBJ [greatest Civil Rights advocate], who in turn
groomed “Johnny” Burns [as LBJ affectionately called Jack Burns], who
in turn groomed Dan Inouye. Dan’s saddest fact? Dan didn’t groom
anyone [such as Ed Case] to take Dan’s place. In “parson” lexicon,
Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 spawned later great religious leaders/
character builders such as Rev. Abraham Akaka. Love, –Curt
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from Denise Takashima —
1. kelly Slater is the man!! He won world championship in the RipCurl Pro yesterday in SF. If you google him, I’m sure you can find the footage on you tube. awesome waves. Never in my life had i seen waves like that in sf. for sf, looked like pipeline on the nroth shore!!! he scored enough points to make him world champ yesterday. in the surfing world, he is now bigger than michael jordan!
old man, too, compared to today’s standards.
2. some good comes out of bad.
we have been watching the occupy oakland situation closely. the morning we left oakland for honolulu, okalandmayor ordered swats at 3am to arrest and get them out of the location. bad decision. not usre if both of you know, but both sf and oakland have chinese mayors. both are under pressure. quan in oakland has the citizens wanting to get her out. ed lee in sf is under investigation for voting and tampering fraud.
well, this trip we usually stay in oakland the first night. flight usually gets in around 9:30-10:30 at night. but this tro, i really didn’t want to wake up in oakland…so i found a great place in berkeley across from the UC campus. The hotel durrant is a very nice boutique hotel. each room is named after a famous peson who either went to UC berkeley (or we refer to it as beserk-ley)
or who stayed there. On our floor was a room named after Jason Kid (my favorite point guard). Next to that room, there was one named Steve Wozniak. Now we bay area people really are fans of this steve rather than steve jobs. much nicer, not so arrogant
apple founder. well, our room was named after julia morgan. All that was stated about her in our room was that she was an architect who graduated from berkeley and she designed the hearst castle.
of course i had to google her. remarkable woman. graduate berkeley 1894 as an engineer. went on to paris graduated and was first woman to receive degree in architecture at that school. well, not only did she design the hearst castle but she did many ywca buildings. two of which are: The Laniaea YWCA in downtown honolulu. I Love having lunch at this place and have always admired whoever the architect was!! well, she graduated from oakland high school! Good does come out of evil!
the second ywca, was the one in chinatown in SF!! Now this is where I took dancing lessons from tony wing ages 5-12!!!!! my mom wanted to balance out the gun-shooting lessons my dad had me attend on sundays, and the karate-judo on week days, so every Saturday morning was ballet and tap with tony wing. these were very big productions in the chinesse community in those days and being the gay that tony wing was, he quickly learned of my mom’s sewing skills and she of course was asked to make the costumes. when i read this, boy, did i have flashbacks!!!
you wanted to know some of my chinese -cultural background…that YWCA was the equisitive ronamental in design building that really interested a young 5year-old denise! of course across the street was the cyca where bruce lee was giving gung-fu lessons.
all the chinese in that community shunned him because he was instructing marial arts to “non-chinese”.
In my later years I took gung-fu and and tai-chi from ronald louie, father of the famous louie family tennis pros. peanut louie was
his youngest daughter. he was like a “mr Miyagi” from karate-kid. practiced tai-chi with him through the pregnancy of my first daughter, casey.
i must admit, the ballet helped in all those martial arts. it was the balance and the discipline. in this part of my life, i’m a cliche. ballerina marries football/baseball jock.
aloha,
denise
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1 Corinthians 13:13
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The Greatest of These is Love
What makes love so amazing? For starters, it is what motivated our Heavenly Father to send His only begotten Son to die for us. Without love, there would have been no redemption for us all. Not only would we be without love, but without the redemption that was precipitated by love. There also would be no faith, and no hope. You see, nothing else matters, without love. It is the foundation/imprimatur for every other good thing in our lives.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer%27s_aesthetics
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“…aesthetic pleasure in the beautiful consists, to a large extent, in the fact that, when we enter the state of pure contemplation, we are raised for the moment above all willing, above all desires and cares; we are, so to speak, rid of ourselves.” (The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, § 68)
“Perhaps the reason why common objects in still life seem so transfigured and generally everything painted appears in a supernatural light is that we then no longer look at things in the flux of time and in the connection of cause and effect.” (Manuscript Remains, Vol. I, § 80)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vc6Uxsd_5k
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb4Rp9cDBgs&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PUiI0mGR5U
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDYm_5JUh-Q&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPtNilIMtfA&ob=av2n
[the enthralling David O’Joseph of Blue Lagoon]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7_mVx7iSlE&feature=related
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Imminent danger/hostile threat —
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a non-football fan’s refutation of Paterno & his sickos!
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from Curt — Joe Paterno failed to stand up for the victims of homosexual pedophilia. SMU’s recruiting scandal exemplar is that instead of shutting down football, restore the program & bankroll the costs via fan attendance/sponsorship. Enough of this jock talk lamentation. Leave me out of this teardrop bucket. Get on with football & its jock nutsdom.
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from KL Ching —
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Curtis, my Penn State fraternity brothers are torn emotionally with what is going on at Penn State. Regards, –KL
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“Tell” body language is prescient/foretelling —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_(poker)
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-smerconish/sanduskys-devastating-int_b_1103804.html
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Worst for Sandusky was this response:
Costas: Are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?
Sandusky: Am I sexually attracted to underage boys? Sexually attracted, you know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them. But, no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.
This was the only time Sandusky repeated a question. It sounded like a “tell” in poker parlance. In response to a question that anyone else would immediately shout back, “Hell, no,” he needed to pause, catch his breath, and deliberate.
Sandusky would have sealed his fate had he admitted to sexual attraction.
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from KingLit Ching —
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Curt,
I like your blogging format similar to Larry Derfner’s utilizing WordPress software. The standardized features make perfect sense for you since you can offer highly visible and easily accessed archived subjects. Information and essays on my dad [Rev. Hung Wai Ching] are nicely organized. I will need to teach my family how to access your blog. Regards, –KL
P.S. Maybe I should create my own blog. I have a nom de guerre picked out to match my infatuation with the remarkable revolutionary Che Guevara. It is Aladino Guzman [Kohala Puerto Rican boxing legend].
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from KingLit Ching —
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Curtis,
I can’t stand it anymore knowing that the US allows for apartheid in Israel. I am mounting an effort to get my Congressman, Henry Waxman, to respond to my concerns about Palestinian civil rights. This is why I am recruiting California Palestinians to my cause. My relationship with Larry Derfner provides me with accurate inside information. KL
From: KL Ching
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2011 6:32 PM
To: Sami
Subject: Equal Rights For Israeli Palestinians
Sami,
Do you know Reza Aslan? He is a brilliant spokesman for the Israeli Palestinian cause. We need to include Reza in our efforts. Can you contact him or identify a person who knows him? Reza can use our support to achieve his goals. Please comment. Regards, –KL Ching
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Aslan#Quotes
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From: KL Ching
To: Sami
Subject: Equal Rights For Israeli Palestinians
Hello Sami,
Thank you for allowing me to join with you and your Ramallah Club or your friends to develop a plan and program to seek equal rights for Palestinians in Israel. I will draft an outline of how I visualize exerting effective influence on the US Congress to push for equal rights and justice. One of our goals should be to further unite a US Palestinian effort. Would you mind checking to see what organized efforts already exist so that we can join forces? Thanks and Salaam, — KL Ching
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Curtis,
I am in love with Arabic women! KL
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Tikkum Olam – Repairing the world
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This is “Post Zionism” when Jews and Arabs become Israelis. With greater tolerance, we can achieve peace, love and understanding, This song is amazing because the Jews are singing in Hebrew and the Arabs are singing in Arabic. Beautiful song, wonderful message! KL
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_i2F2LlF8&feature=player_embedded#!
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from Sempai Kondo —
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from KingLit Ching born 1936
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Curtis,
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Thanks for doing the research on Raza Aslan. The guy is brilliant and will be a major influence in modernizing Islam and making it more relevant to Muslims. Aslam will also bring the Muslim world closer to the Western world creating greater harmony. I first saw his name on an article in the LA times which greatly impressed me. Thanks again to the Oracle from Hilo — you!!. — KL
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from Curt —
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over the long stretch of time — Reza Aslan born 1972 & the New Age of Islam — dedicated to internationalist KingLit Ching —
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Reza Aslan’s central theme is that an internal battle has taken place within Islam between the values of individualism and the traditional authority of clerics. This struggle fuels a reformation that Aslan says has parallels to the 16th-century revolution in Christianity. Aslan is the author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam (2005), which challenges the “clash of civilizations” mentality that he argues has distorted the Western view of Islam by polarizing theology via Western imperialist views. Islam got buried in the Middle Ages via Islam’s parochial/feudal tribalism vs. the West’s exposure to the rising mercantile trade. But with the current global fever of social media/cyberspace, traditional Islam is disintegrating aplenty, not because of Western imperialism, but because of emerging liberation themes.
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http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2006/pr-aslan-102506.html
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Aslan born 1972 is a renaissance thinker who tosses out the Old fundamentalism by way of the New reality of pluralism—the peaceful coexistence and legal equality between different ethnic, religious or political ideologies—that defines democracy, not secularism per se. We see this in the solitary immolation martyr-triggered Revolt of 2011 in the Middle East.
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With no sovereignty, Palestine lacks its rightful place in the world. With no voice in their future, extremists move forward. With no legitimately elected Palestinian leaders to fight terrorism, Israel has no reliable partner for peace. The solution is a democratic Palestinian first nation, led by legitimately elected officials who reject terror and pursue peace with Israel.
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Evolutionary psychologist Matt J. Rossano says that religion made us human — that religion stretches back 500,000 yrs. ago, when our ancestors developed the motor control to engage in social rituals — that is, to sing & dance together. Then, about 70,000 yrs. ago, a global ecological crisis drove humanity to the edge of extinction. It forced the survivors to create new strategies for survival, and religious rituals were foremost among them. Point is that religion is a way for humans to relate to each other and the world around them — and in the grim struggles of prehistory, it offered significant survival and reproductive advantages. Religion emerged as our ancestors’ first health care system, and a critical component was social support. Religious groups tended to be far more cohesive, which gave them a competitive edge over non-religious people & which enabled them to conquer the globe/go on conquests. Religion, then, is a way of relating, and is a super-naturalization of human social life/interaction. Such notions are our essential adaptation which promote solidarity & cooperation.
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Chuang-Tzu or Confucius?
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Ancient Chinese parable uses nature to illustrate true humility — Sage Chuang-Tzu walks w/a disciple on a hilltop. They see a crooked, ancient tree without a single straight branch. The disciple says the tree is useless because nothing can be used from it. Chuang-Tzu replies, “This is why it’s ancient – no one knows how useful it is to be useless, because everyone seems to know how useful it is to be useful!!” McCartney’s “Let it Be” tune harmonizes one w/nature’s secret revelation of seeming simplicity, steeped in deepest wisdom.
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But as Ian Morris implores, culture is less a voice in our heads telling us what to do than an assembly hall where we discuss our options. Each age gets the thought it needs, dictated by the kind of problems that geography and social development force on it. But unquestionably, necessity via geography-social development or regression forces change — from ancient forager — to agriculture — to villager — to city dweller — to nation/state — to global regionalism. Histories of Eastern & Western thought have been broadly similar over the last 5,000 yrs., with rise of the first states around 3,500 BC in the West and after 2,000 BC in the East — which set off arguments over the nature of and limits on divine kingship — the whimsical/mystical and the secular/civil. As states became more meta-impact after 750 BC in the West & 500 BC in the East, such discussions led to first-wave axial [will to meaning in life][Karl Jaspers 1883-1969 ID’d an axial age-origin of modern spirituality w/contempos Isaiah/Plato/Confucius/Buddha — making Jaspers as among the great synthesizers in history along w/John Dewey/Williams James/etc.] thought, debating the nature of personal transcendence [ascetism] & its relationship to secular authority. By 200 AD, as the great Roman and Han empires collapsed, 2nd wave axial thought emerged, over how organized churches [New Testament/Dharma] could save the religious believer in a meaningless and frightening and chaotic/dangerous life-world. And when social development revived — by 1000 AD in China & 1400 in Italy — renaissance questions over how to bypass the sordid present in order to regain the lost wisdom of the 1st axial age [Old Testament/old Sangha] — resonated in loud decibels. Each great change pushed people to think the thoughts which the epoch/era/Age needed. After 1600 AD, Westerners became more linear/scientific [rationalist][Industrial Revolution the result], whereas Easterners became more circular/holistic [mystic][largely agrarian the result]. Not biological — Westerners attune to analytical measurement, Easterners attune to “the big picture” [will to meaning a la Rong Qiqi acolytes]. Since 1700 AD many Muslims turned inward in response to military-political defeat, just as Chinese did earlier by 1500 AD. Yet Turkey stayed modern via its geographical port/portal commercial exposure, whereas the Taliban would kill women for showing their faces in public.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei#Philosophy
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rong_Qiqi
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Confucius encounters Rong Qiqi, an elderly recluse who has chosen a life of ascetism. Rong is starkly in contrast with the Confucian ideal of a successful man; he is elderly, poorly dressed, with no material possessions or ambitions. And yet, despite his poverty, Rong appears happy to Confucius. He responds to Confucius’ bewilderment with a cheerful song, happily accompanied by his playing of the lute. The Han Dynasty classic Huainanzi reports that “when Rong Qiqi plucks one chord of his lute, Confucius, moved by its harmony, rejoiced for three days.”
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Confucius requests Rong provide reasons for his happiness. Rong Qiqi, Confucius surmised, has nothing to be joyful of; he has no possessions, no hope, and no future. Rong replies that he is happy for living to an old age. That, for him, is enough.
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After all, Rong surmises, most men are poor and all men will die, so why should he worry himself? This is consistent with all lives, so instead of waiting with everyone else for it to eventually end, why should he worry himself with anything? Why should he deny himself happiness? Instead of being miserable, waiting for his fate, he chooses to be happy. Says Rong Qiqi:
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“ For humans, a life of hardship is the norm and death is the end. Abiding by the norm, awaiting my end, what is there to be concerned about?”
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Confucius was known for his emphasis on filial piety and on the importance of education and studying. This makes him a perfect foil for Rong Qiqi, who rejects his personal responsibilities in favor of pursuing happiness.
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Rong Qiqi’s appeal was his complete abstinence of material desires. He was similar to his Western counterpart, Diogenes the Cynic, in rejecting all societal norms and physical comforts for a life of ascetic virtue.
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Being destitute was, by itself, not an appealing trait. But being liberated from societal pretension was a mind-
blowing positive feature.
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The philosophy of the possibly Rong Qiqi was widely admired among writers, with artists viewing it at as a more natural, more fluid, more liberating way to live life. The poet Ruan Kan wrote approvingly of Rong, applauding Rong Qiqi’s fatalistic view of life as a way to achieve the tranquility and harmony valued in Daoism as integral to the Tao.
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Of slave & storyteller Aesop — like those who dine well off the plainest dishes, he made use of humble incidents to teach great
truths.
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The poor are accepted as constituting the primary recipients of the Good News and, therefore, as having an inherent capacity of understanding it better than anyone else. That’s pretty threatening for any comfortable Christian. For not only do we have to help the poor, not only do we have to advocate on their behalf, we also have to see them as perhaps understanding God better than we do.
But that’s not a new idea: It goes back to Jesus. The poor, the sick and the outcast “got” him better than the wealthy did. Perhaps because there was less standing between the poor and God. Less stuff [pride]. Maybe that’s why Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, “You will have treasure in heaven, and follow me.” Like I said, pretty disturbing, then and now. It’s hardly “the opposite of the Gospel,” as Glenn Beck said. The opposite of the Gospel would be to acquire wealth and fail to work on behalf of the poor.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/opinion/24herbert.html?ref=bobherbert
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…. There was an outfielder on that team named Hank Thompson. Bobby Thomson was white and Hank Thompson was black. I asked my father if they were brothers. He laughed and said: “No. You know how you can tell they’re not brothers?”
I said I didn’t. He said, “Hank Thompson spells his last name t-h-o-m-p-s-o-n. Bobby Thomson doesn’t have a ‘p’ in his last name. If they were brothers they would spell their names the same.”
It was years before I realized what a terrific thing that was to say to a kid.
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Gifts, especially of wisdom, are to share,
per John 6:63. Not to constrain to oneself. Which is why I share Steven Kalas’ gift of
wisdom w/those like myself most in need.
From sage Steven Kalas on the immense power of forgiveness — When reconciliation is real, the injuries sustained and healed in relationships become perhaps the strongest part of the bond. Scars are made beautiful. Even treasured in some peculiar way.
We don’t aim at forgetting. Yet, when the power of forgiveness is asked for and given, the delightful paradox is that then we often do forget.
I accept my foe’s apology. Shortly and simply. I hope, graciously. Where there was once silent emptiness there now abides freedom and the exchange of peace.
I’m happy for both of us.
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Contempo existentialism postulates that
one must make his and her own values in an indifferent world. One can live meaningfully [free of despair and anxiety] in an unconditional commitment to something finite, and devotes that meaningful life to the commitment, despite the external vulnerability inherent to doing so. I love history. I love life. My existential definition lies right here, right at this instant.
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Grace shapes our ideas about suffering and healing. Grace shapes the way we apprehend human dilemmas and proceed in our attempts to ameliorate those dilemmas.
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God’s Grace allows for Redemption, unearned and unmerited, but for the Grace of God. We all fall short. Most unfortunate, but such is our indifferent human lot.
Yes, we try our best to be authentic, however clumsily we plod forward, and in this sense, as with life overall, Redemption is key, brought on by God’s Grace.
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The most beautiful and erotic [as in lovers Jack and Rose in the 1997 movie Titanic] expressions from Ms. Toni Robert — “Just remember, your future is mine too. We are in this together.” Sigh….
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Who undyngly poured their lives into your own just because it made them smile to see you happy, thriving and victorious? Can you see their faces? Can you feel their love? Can you experience Divinity?
Recount their legacy. Right now. And be grateful.
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How do I find meaning and identity, comfort and consolation, in an indifferent world??
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Does love truly come to everyone? Or may I die alone, having never been loved or given the chance to love?
Love life, even if love does not come to you. You shall be rewarded in the afterlife, brah’/sis’
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I measure up in my love and devotion to you, even
if I don’t measure up in your eyes. I shall move
on, knowing that my love for you is true.
When I am ignored/forgotten, or when I await a minus/negative communication as one unburdens of me, I repose and take comfort that love lives on in my heart and in the afterlife, and that just the same, romance never dies, now or in the hereafter.
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“There, but for the Grace of God, go I” has its analog in Psalm 124: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,…when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive.”
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Sista’s memoir takes a sympathetic look at people who find hope at an end, as in suicide to end emotional or physical pain. Paradox is that Sista’s memoir of 40 yrs. ago in the thread “What is the meaning of life” is the most life affirming recount I’ve seen. The characters have real struggles — but at the end of the storyline, I see more beauty in it and in life, even in its most difficult moments. And it’s such a short allegory! Sista’ conveys so much in relatively few paragraphs.
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An overprideful person “swallows one’s own stomach.” Such nature entails endless self-aggrandizement and vanity, and ensures incomprehensibility at the moment it compels authenticity/truth.
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It is true, the strength behind the leader is the
person who mystifies me, the so-called unspoken one, like baby brother Andrew was to Peter [Bible]. God has no use for pride, such that the meekest of the meek went on to lead, like Moses/Gideon. Look at King David. Lowly Nathan chastened shell-shocked David. Look at Joshua/etc. All unheralded/unsung
heroes. Tremendous symbolism of “never judge a book by its cover.”
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Shower a rainbow for others
Exemplars like grassroot KingLit Ching provide us a deep mirror into the celebration of being human, of reaching into the collective human experience of a culture. And as sagacious Steven Kalas says, the death of a momentous exemplar is felt painfully and powerfully in our human psyche. The loss is real and meaningful. And so is the grief.
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The loss becomes even more powerful when the particular exemplar also carries your personal projections. That is, the exemplar’s life mirrors important pieces of your own psychic journey. Your own life dramas. You miss the beauty, the passion, the inspiration and hope that pour through an exemplar and into our lives especially during times of deepest social & financial misery. For this is when we need our exemplar the most.
The capacity for gratitude is itself humility. Gratitude and humility are symbiotic. The only people who can say “thank you” are people who have learned of dependence and interdependence. The best of life is not a result of what shortfall we deserve, but the opposite, of simple yet profound indulgences and pleasures — a smile, a tear of joy.
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from angelheart & gorgeous Denise Takashima born 1953 –
Well, I totally appreciated your Shower a Rainbow for Others. Especially because you understand how devasted I was at the loss of my dad and later my mom. Thank you. You helped me get through it! You were my rainbow! aloha, denise* * * *
Defining historiography
Furay and Salevouris (1988) define historiography as “the study of the way history has been and is written — the history of historical writing… When you study ‘historiography’ you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians.”
Narrative
According to Lawrence Stone, narrative has traditionally been the main rhetorical device used by historians. In 1979, at a time when the new Social History was demanding a social-science model of analysis, Stone detected a move back toward the narrative. Stone defined narrative as follows: it is organized chronologically; it is focused on a single coherent story; it is descriptive rather than analytical; it is concerned with people not abstract circumstances; and it deals with the particular and specific rather than the collective and statistical. He reported that, “More and more of the ‘new historians’ are now trying to discover what was going on inside people’s heads in the past, and what it was like to live in the past, questions which inevitably lead back to the use of narrative.”
Luso translator Edgar Knowlton Jr. says that “people looking for their roots now wish they knew more about their ancestors & how life was for them. If you find out what interested them creatively, this will give them further dimension for you.”
Samuel Johnson 1709-1784 a unique biographer — Johnson is the most-quoted English writer after Shakespeare. High praise, considering that Shakespeare is the most important historymaker over the past millennia. Johnson used anecdotes/incidents selectively ["domestic privacies"] which revealed true character. Johnson is the father of biography. I use Johnson’s method to illustrate character change [such as Pastor Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 going from "buddahead" J*p-beater to J*p-lover]. Johnson also is known for his aphorisms. Like Johnson, Henry Adams 1838-1919 revealed authentic character, not cheezy pop fluff pieces. Adams influenced modernist Art Schlesinger Jr. 1917-2007, as did Tocqueville 1805-1859. William James 1842-1910 [pragmatist] & David Hume 1711-1776 [utilitarian who also influenced William James] also influenced Schlesinger. Adams is from the famous U.S. Presidents’ Adams bloodline.
The fluid interpretations of our greatest moment-maker Pastor Hung Wai Ching and his destiny events [genesis of Jack Kawano and our ILWU via Hung Wai's subscription to purity/ideals of communist "everybody's equal" in society, until Hung Wai saw the unalterable horror of despots Stalin/Mao] intrigue me to no end, with 1930s right wing libertarian historians decrying Hung Wai’s FDR New Deal format, only to have them embrace Hung Wai post-WWII after Hung Wai became Stalin’s vehement foe — in retrospect, later libertarian historians softened up on the 1930s Hung Wai by dismissing Hung Wai’s youthful indiscretion as part of Hung Wai’s spiritual walk/evolution/metamorphosis. Such changing interpretations of past events like the attraction of ideal/pure communism to 1930s reformers like Rev. Hung Wai Ching are what historiography is all about. I use biography genesis Samuel Johnson’s personal sequential method of “domestic privacies” to illustrate character change, just as incisive Lawrence Stone & Edgar Knowlton Jr. above discuss personal narrative as the historian’s expression. In literature, stream of consciousness/free association emerged via Johnson’s method. ** *
Ever since our species appeared on Earth, human beings have gathered around a fire to fulfill our most fundamental need — companionship – as we reaffirm kinship/tribal bonds/recount experiences/share insights/ponder the unanswerable — who are we? Our creation stories and origin myths consume our fireside queries generation after generation. Elders have been the repository of experience/knowledge/wisdom — about our origins/purpose/destiny. David [for King David] Takayoshi [filial piety -- respect for elders] Suzuki [Bellwood in English -- the biggest clan in Japan] is today’s Elder. A 3rd generation Japanese Canadian born 1936 [same age as KingLit Ching], whose both sets of grandparents [ojisans/obasans] emigrated from Japan, all born at the cusp of our Meiji era in the 1860s. Of course, we now know that biomagnification — the increase in concentration of a substance such as insecticide DDT as it moves up the food chain — was discovered only after birds such as hawks/eagles disappeared, such that high levels of DDT were found in the breasts and milk of women. Economics/ecology are rooted in Grecian oikos, meaning home. Ecology is the study of home, economics its management. Eternalities supposedly unrelated to ecology mark our hubris today — it is not Christ who is crucified now, it is the tree itself — and on the buzzsaw blades of human greed and stupidity. Our suicidal morons such as ourselves, in a world choking w/immense death/destruction, would destroy the best natural air filter/conditioner creation accords us, per John Fowles. The hubris of science obliterates our sacred/profane — called reductionism — examining the individual parts of nature — yet losing all sense of the whole — the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring book in 1962 exposed the devastating effects of pesticides like DDT — brought about because of out utter reductionism/controlled experiments — which did not at all mimic the whole of nature.
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Choose redemption [redeem oneself in love for another] over indifference, no matter the risks of failure/rejection/humiliation-derision-scorn
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I dedicate this to my daughter Staycie age 39, who inspires me just as my Maker shows me the way, the walk in Faith. When you sense a need of another person, choose redemption [redeem yourself in service/love to such person] over indifference [incl. apprehension/uncertainty of the other person’s reaction], no matter the risk. To paraphrase Emily Dickinson, one’s mind is so near that it does not see distinctly. But one’s heart sharpens vision with life. So that it is better to risk the question, “Is my heart too much for you to bear,” than to feign indifference, or even to feel bitterness such as in failing to forgive yourself over a lost opportunity to save/rescue a lost soul. It is not about a save/rescue, but to share in blessings and love for one another. A gift is to share, the sharing being the gift itself in all respects.
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Faith is not outcome-dependent, such that Jesus does not cut a deal or bargain over your destiny. You don’t trade off with Jesus. Neither do you engage in magic/hocus pocus — Faith is not a Vegas act. It is as real as the wage of sin — death. Thy Will Be Done. One is not cursed because that person or one’s progeny are afflicted with medical issues. It just is, as Eleanor Roosevelt’s orphan phase just is. This is one’s walk in Faith, side by side with Jesus. Everlasting life beyond our own on this temporal earth. But for the Grace of God there go I. Psalm 124
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Again, remember that blessings are about obedience and faith in God, nothing to do with temporal/earthly occurrences such as earthquakes/tsunamis/hurricanes/cancer/diabetes/etc. And curses are of one’s own doing, not inherited via one’s DNA [nurture, not nature], such as overpride-vanity/envy-jealousy/greed/selfishness/anger.
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Public opinion polls show that agnostics & atheists are the groups which Americans trust the least.
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Loss in love [getting dumped by your loved one] is the death of possibilities, of what could’ve been bliss, of dreams shattered, to use the cliche. Such death transitions me from what is to what will be, from who I am to who I will be, a blend of sort, so to speak.
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On real time forgiveness, note the instance of the man who accidentally spills a bowl of soup on another man. The other man is aghast, then lets out the amazing Grace of a punchline – “Well, at least I love the aroma of this soup!!” Wow!!
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God never wants us to suffer, but Nature’s course/suffering is our growth in God’s Holiness as we draw closer to God. The experience of loss/pain/ suffering do not shape us, but instead our response to such loss/experience shape our fate/destiny. We don’t choose misfortune, and we have the agency/choice to decide how we react in turn to these sad circumstances/ events. Loss/crisis offer up our transformative change/catalyst to growth, as we impel beyond our ego limitation and then transcend our self- inflated vices. Our deepest loss/suffering teleport us to a divine plane where we shorn our illusion of our own power/egocentrism, and in this netherland we decide whether to condemn ourselves to misery/self-loathing, or to forgive ourselves for our failed human condition/hamartia [maybe well-intended but miscued just the same]. Yes, the death of the egotistic self conceives the birth of the new self of extraordinary beauty and sensuality, and we do not consume ourselves with the fear of loss as a cop-out to deny us and others our desire to love and to be loved.What about those who do not believe? Wouldn’t they repent and believe if they
were given a second chance? The answer is no, they would not because their
hearts are not changed simply because they die. Their hearts and minds “are at
enmity” against God and won’t accept Him even when they see Him face to face.
This is evidenced clearly in the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. If ever someone should have repented when
given a second chance to see clearly the truth, it was the rich man. But
although he was in torment in hell, he only asked that Abraham send Lazarus back
to earth to warn his brothers so they didn’t have to suffer the same fate. There
was no repentance in his heart, only regret for where he found himself.
Abraham’s answer says it all: “And he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and
the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even though one rose from the dead”
(Luke 16:31). Here we see that the witness of the
Scriptures is sufficient for salvation for those who believe it, and no other
revelation will bring about salvation to those who do not. No second, third or
fourth chances would be enough to turn the heart of stone into a heart of
flesh.
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http://www.gotquestions.org/second-chance-salvation.html*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parables_of_Jesus
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How many angels can fit on the head of a pin? None, or as many as God desires. Science is not the answer to our prayers. Hawai’i is insulated from conquest because of its isolation. Thence our ubiquitous welcoming aloha spirit — love and nothing but love.
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Female fecundity/childbirth are amazing phenomena which ensure propagation of species. Which is why human female child-bearing is worshipped in early ancient cave wall depictions/etc. The physically superior male defends the species, the female reproduces the species. No physical protection from the predators of ancient humankind, no procreation-childbirth. The male fights predators, the female reproduces the species. Because the male fights predators, the male is the boss of the species — at least traditionally.
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KL Ching’s take — I see the tree as beautiful. It has a productive purpose
· Being in harmony with nature is tranquil and assuring – simplicity is wisdom.
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Bishop hunk Dexter Irvin and his drop-dead gorgeous wife Connie come to our everyday McDonald’s for an affordable breakfast this morning. Their little nameless unremembered act of kindness & generosity unwitnessed by anyone but me, who was scoping their luminous presence amid our bromide backdrop — Dex slips a $20 bill to the samaritan for a mentally ill desperado of our earth, so that our little brother can fill his starving stomach. What Jesus prescribes in the samaritan parable of Matthew 25:40 is disinterested, self-giving care for the “other” [agape]. We are to act on behalf of those who have needs and who reside along the social margins [the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned].
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Faith is not outcome-dependent, such that Jesus does not cut a deal or bargain over your destiny. You don’t trade off with Jesus. Neither do you engage in magic/hocus pocus — Faith is not a Vegas act. Thy Will Be Done. One is not cursed because that person or one’s progeny is afflicted with medical issues. It just is. This is one’s walk in Faith, side by side with Jesus. Everlasting life beyond our own on this temporal earth. But for the Grace of God there go I. Psalm 124
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Reprise 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 — Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful, so the same God chose those who reside in the forsaken social margins.
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Luke 10:25-37
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Portraying a Samaritan in positive light would have come as a shock to Jesus’ audience. It is typical of his provocative speech in which conventional expectations are inverted — counter-intuitive impossibilities come to life. Jesus turns common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of His audience.
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Some religious leaders once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus proceeded to tell the story of “The Good Samaritan,” capping the tale with “So I ask you, which of these was a neighbor to the man?” That is, what kind of neighbor are YOU?
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Wow. Jesus’ story doesn’t answer their question; rather, the story challenges their question, changes it from “Who is my neighbor” to “What kind of neighbor are YOU?” And just like that our universe is an expanded place!
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from Dex Irvin —
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And then someone did try to help him, and this to me was the most memorable moment of the evening. From somewhere on the panel, a voice reached out to the struggling Texan, a suggestion that might help Perry gather himself and emerge from this utter humiliation.
The voice belonged to Mitt Romney. As Perry’s brain was hardening into arctic pack ice, Romney suggested that maybe the third agency he wanted to eliminate was the EPA. Yeah, that’s it! But no, it wasn’t. Pressed by Harwood, Perry said it wasn’t the EPA, but blast if he could remember what it was. (Later he said it was Energy.)
Romney’s suggestion when most of the others were squirmingly silent was an act of pure kindness and self-sacrificing generosity. It was not especially noticeable. But if you were Rick Perry in that moment, you were well aware that Romney was the one who tried to save you. When Perry finally said, “Oops,” it was Romney toward whom he looked.
Small, but not insignificant, this gesture of active empathy tells much about the man who extended it. He’s a nice guy in a season of nastiness, a trait that may also be his greatest political failing.
Michael Medved, trying to figure out why Republicans don’t love Romney, pointed to his lack of anger. These are angry times and people want their leader to be ticked off, surmised Medved. He may be right, both in theory and in his conclusion: This passion for anger is not good for the country.
Others insist that Romney can’t earn people’s confidence because he’s too squeaky clean. Few can identify with a man who never touches coffee or alcohol, whose hair is as precise as the crease in his pants. Or, put another way, the figures in his business ledgers?
He seems preternaturally unflappable, which to some is too robotic, not-quite-human. We like some fallibility in our leaders and flaws in our protagonists. Perhaps Romney would benefit from a slight imperfection or some other handicap over which he has struggled.
Or might kindness and humility be handicaps in a mean, self-infatuated world?
Humility is a tough trait to communicate in a presidential campaign that requires confident self-promotion, though it is often apparent in Romney’s debate face. He looks at others respectfully when they are speaking and his expression betrays patience and even a hopefulness that they will do well. Romney isn’t shy in reminding voters of his own accomplishments, but there are stories out there that tell another side to his character. Here’s one related to me recently by someone close to the campaign:
Romney was shooting an ad on a hot day in a staffer’s yard. While the photo shoot was being set up, Romney was asked to bide time in the cooler shade of the staffer’s garage. When the staffer retrieved Romney 30 minutes later, he discovered that the candidate had swept and organized his garage.
A small thing. Or perhaps not.
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Dennis Rodman’s heartfulness —
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BKO_HALL_OF_FAME?SITE=FLFNW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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Life’s irony/contradiction is no more vexing than of exemplar Geralyn Lucas, whose one breast nursed a baby, and the other breast nearly killed her via cancer — as she says, “life and death are so close to my heart now.” http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=2041 Lucas on the Self magazine photo of a bare top Lucas — “I don’t recognize myself. I see my eyes and a depth I have never seen before. I see a journey…. This famous photographer has worked her magic. She has captured the courage that was mingled with my fear and turned out a beauty so honest and raw it is unfamiliar.” Geralyn’s point about the photo shoot was to demonstrate that a woman with one breast can be beautiful [my mom Teruko “Ruth” 1916-1998 had a mastectomy while still young and thankfully lived a full long life], and as motivational agent Alicia Salzer says, “and [Geralyn’s] beauty is enhanced, not dminished, by the scar of a survivor’s knowledge that life lives so close to death, shame so close to pride, fear so close to courage. It is an amazing grace that washes over you when you realize you can stop fighting and just be. That although death hovers alongside life, you can stop fighting death on the left and gobbling life on the right, and just stand strong between them. That what remains is a scar — but also, all the rest of you. We have acquired the ability to see things more clearly and more beautifully, to live more fully and more meaningfully. We are a proud tribe.”
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Yes, Geralyn, as Geralyn’s big fan Alicia says, is the author of her famous book Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. “People will value me for my humanity and my truth” — eureka!! Salzer’s phenomenal book Back to Life: Getting Past Your Past With Resilience, Strength, and Optimism [2011] consecrates this moment.
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I dedicate this parable of irony and authenticity to kindred spirits Valerie Saruwatari born 1943, Denise Takashima born 1953, and KingLit Ching born 1936 — my holy trinity that shares one’s soul and each ounce/measure of hope, faith, and love — with you, dearest tribal pride/family.
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Art Kramer, Ph.D. who studies aging at the Beckman Institute, says that although we obviously slow down both physically and mentally, there is also evidence of new kinds of growth as we enter our 50s. He and others, including Neil Charness, Ph.D., a psychology researcher at Florida State University, point toward the increased capacity for what is called “crystallized intelligence” as we age. He makes a distinction between fluid and crystallized intelligence. The former is about raw processing speed; the agility with which you are able to solve new and unfamiliar problem. The latter comes from experience; hard and fast knowledge, garnered over years.
Crystallized intelligence, according to Charness, remains not only intact, but improves as the brain gets older. “If you look at measures of knowledge like information tasks, vocabulary tasks,” he says, “then those abilities seem to rise at least into the 50s and hold maybe even to the 60s and 70s, and probably start to decline after that.”
Another researcher, Laura Carstensen from the Stanford Center on Longevity, points toward other reasons to be optimistic about aging based on what she calls the socio-emotional selectivity theory. “There’s a general set of goals that guide human behavior throughout life,” she says, “and when time horizons are vast and nebulous, as they typically are in youth, people prioritize those goals in different ways than when time horizons are short.”
The result? As we age and recognize the limited time ahead, we are more focused on gaining the kind of insights and knowledge that we need to prioritize goals. In other words, with age comes wisdom. And with wisdom, we may find that we make smarter life choices that are more likely to bring us satisfaction.
So, what do these studies mean to Obama and the millions of other baby boomers celebrating their 50th birthdays? Does this U-curve path mean they have already hit rock bottom and are on their way back up? My take on this is as follows:
The average person begins life with lofty expectations. During childhood, adolescence and right through early adulthood, most of us set the bar high, both professionally and personally. We have dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers, CEOs and even presidents. We expect to fall in love, create families and live happily ever after. At this life stage we rely on “fluid,” rather than crystallized intelligence in order to reach these goals. We are busy optimizing our physical, economic and support systems to get educated, find jobs and mates. Our life goals, up until our 20s and 30s, are broad and not yet clearly prioritized.
During early adulthood we begin facing the fact that we may or may not meet our aspirations — constrained not only by our own physical and emotional limitations, but by those imposed upon us — e.g. economic, geographic, cultural, etc. As we hit our 40s, reality may set in even further. For some, the traditional midlife crisis hits — experienced by some men when they fail to achieve financial or professional success — and by some women as they face peri-menopause and the end of childbearing opportunities.
By age 44 — the stage that Oswald described as when we hit rock bottom — the confrontation with our past and the increasing limitations presented by our future can cause great turmoil. Decisions about the next stage of life loom large. “Can I live the next 40 to 50 years with the choices I’ve made up until now?” Some panic. Others feel stuck. And some move through it, onward and forward, altering expectations, creating clearer priorities.
This is key, for it is at this stage that important emotional and cognitive shifts seem to take place for many people allowing for the upturn at midlife to occur. By the time we reach our 50s, many of us have begun to let go of unrealistic goals and accept who we are. We begin to use our accumulated knowledge, prioritize our life goals and make wiser choices as we move forward. We start to feel more satisfied with what we have achieved, enjoy our accomplishments and feel less compelled to push for more. It’s not about giving up or giving in, but rather settling in for the ride.
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It’s unfortunate that Ke Ola Magazine columnist Pete Hendricks in his “Then & Now” Ka’u Landings article September/October 2011 issue talks about the “tragedy” of Na’alehu Sugar genesis Hutchinson’s capsized rowboat & his death — but writer Hendricks knows nothing about the real tragedy of the death of Henry Opukahaia’s family in the pitched battle between Ka’u chief Kaiana & Kamehameha. Sad omission.
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from me to Kaloa Robinson, whom I picked to be National Prayer Day speaker at Rev. Rich Uejo’s Mayor Steve Yamashiro’s Prayer Day Breakfast [Rev. Uejo asked me to be the speaker, but I declined in favor of cogent/adroit Kaloa] —
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For decades I have worked with severely “at-risk” youth; some who willingly put their lives at risk, and others who find themselves at risk for reasons beyond their control. Of course, all youth are at risk to some degree, as each young person must risk themselves in the world to learn who they are at the core of their life. Now, amidst growing fears and uncertainty about the future, young people sense that everything around them is at greater risk. Young people, who are supposed to be the “future of the world,” can find themselves fearing that the world has very little future to offer them.
Whether it be educated youth considering the increasing dangers of climate change or less privileged ones who feel the bite of poverty and the growing disparity between rich and poor, modern youth grow up amidst threats of natural disaster, nightmares of terrorism and bewilderment at the ineffectiveness and lack of courage of those who seem to have the most power. Increasingly, I hear young people asking how to act in a world that seems to be coming apart at the seams.
Having found my own way through the world by studying myths and stories, I tend to answer with old tales that show how people have survived great troubles and the spread of fear many times before. Too much fear can lead to unnecessary panic as well as a paralysis of imagination. An old story can help contain the fear and reduce the tendency to panic and run away from life’s inevitable risks.
This old teaching story comes from the great African savannahs where life pours forth in the form of teeming, feeding herds. As the herds eat their way across the plains, lions wait in the tall grass nearby, anticipating the chance to prey upon the grazing animals. In preparation, they send the oldest and weakest members of the pride away from the rest of the hunting pack. Having lost much of their strength and most of their teeth, the roar of the old ones is far greater than their ability to bite.
The old lions go off and settle in the grass directly across from where the strong and hungry lions wait and watch. As the herd enters the area between the hunting pack and the old lions, the old ones roar mightily. At the sound of the roaring, most of the herd panics. Blinded by fear, they turn and flee from the seeming source of danger. As they rush wildly in the opposite direction, they run right to where the strongest lions wait in the tall grass for dinner to arrive.
“Run towards the roar,” the old people used to tell the young ones. When faced with great danger in this world, run towards the roaring, go where you fear to go, for only there will you find some safety and a way through danger. Trouble that is faced when it first appears can be the roar that awakens a person’s deepest resources. In times of trouble or tragedy, a person either steps into life more fully or else slips into a diminished life characterized by fear and anxiety.
The modern world has begun to roar in a big way and fear has become the dominant emotion amongst people of all ages. Old folks fear that they will lose health care and retirement benefits; those in their prime earning years fear that they can’t earn enough or could lose their jobs at any moment; and young people fear that there is no place for them in this fearful world where the whole thing could seemingly end at any moment.
Clearly, there are real fears and wild uncertainties in this rapidly changing world. There are many people waiting and willing to exploit the fears of others. And, the tendency to panic as part of the herd can suddenly strike anyone. Everyone feels some fear when panic is in the air. Yet, fear can also be a guide that clarifies what needs to be risked for a greater life to be found. That’s what I tell young people when they ask what to do as the world around us becomes increasingly riddled with great uncertainty and blind reactions.
Don’t get caught in the blind fears that grip the herd. When the world roars at you, it is time to go where you fear to go. The real risk in this life has always been that of becoming oneself amidst the uncertainties of existence. On this earth everything we are given can also become lost. The notion that life should be safe or even that retirement should be secure misses the point of fully living the story seeded in one’s soul from the beginning.
The old soul in the human psyche knows that the whole thing has hung by a thread all along. Not that there aren’t real fears, but that those who are older are supposed to draw wisdom from surviving the trouble in their own lives. Those “old enough to know better” are not supposed to panic and foolishly add to the roaring of the world.
Those looking for security in the midst of radical change become easy pickings for those trying to benefit from the roaring troubles of this world. Those who believe that life should be predictable or that their security should be guaranteed wind up caught in the teeth of blind anger or debilitating fear. As an Irish poet once said, “A false sense of security is the only kind there is.”
In the end, what we fear will not go away, for it indicates what we must go through in order to live more fully. As an old African proverb advises: When death or danger finds you, let it find you alive! Whether it be an individual, a community or a country, when faced with tragedy or fearful uncertainty we either enter life more fully or else begin to accept a smaller way of being. In the end, or when the end seems near, genuine security can only be found by taking the risks that lead to a greater sense of life and a more inclusive and encompassing way of being in the world.
Debbie Hecht
Kailua Kona, HI
(808) 989-3222
I did not say that I do not regularly do everything in my power to dodge some realities. Like most people, I’m quite capable of self-deception, even illusory ways of thinking, feeling and being that help me play “cat and mouse” with the truth in me and around me. This is what the human ego does. That’s one of the realities for which I have an affinity. And it’s here that I need — like everyone needs — true friends. A loving spouse, a trusted friend or family member. These folks find a way — gently or not so gently — to insist that you turn your attention to the obvious.
At least, it’s often obvious to those who love you.
By affinity for the truth I mean I’m convinced the truth is an ally, friend and advocate, if indeed frequently a holy terror. I cringe at the corniness of it, but it’s a fact that the truth shall set you free. And the truth is this: The human journey includes suffering. No one comes to therapy who isn’t suffering.
But, here’s another truth: In any given time in your life, the number of people who actually, really, honestly want and are willing to grant you an engaged and healing audience for your suffering is … small. Even people who sincerely love and adore you might find themselves ambivalent about really engaging and listening to the part of you that suffers. See, the people around us have egos, too. Their egos mobilize to protect them just like your ego does. “Cheer up … get over it … God has a plan … everybody is doing the best he or she can … don’t cry” — the felt motive for these messages is to help you. But each of these messages also contains the anxiety of the messenger: Please stop suffering.
And that’s what most modern people do. They try to stop suffering. They “get over it.” They build layer upon layer of pretense and persona over their wounds, because it’s, well, the sociable thing to do. Most of us, then, suffer unconsciously. Because that’s the way we’ve been taught to suffer.
Last night, for the second time in my life, I saw comedian Bill Cosby perform. Bill is 74. And he’s still mesmerizing. How can he make me laugh so hard without ever even saying the word “damn it,” let alone the profanity-laced routines of most modern comedians?
Bill told a story about raising his son, Ennis. It was dear. Adorable. Funny. At the end of the story, Bill said simply, humbly, looking down at the stage: “Ennis would be 41 years old today.”
There was a smattering of warm, respectful applause. I remember thinking: “Ah, now that’s nice. There are a few people here who can pause from their laughter and be with Bill in his suffering. To let him know that they know. Ennis was murdered in 1997.”
Empathy means literally “to enter the pathos.” Compassion means literally “to suffer with.” We bandy those words about too easily. It’s not all that frequently we find people who will really do the work implied in those words. I cherish the people I do find.
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Six years later the construct of “Dancing With the Stars” is being turned on its head. In some ways those pros — “Cheryl! Maks! Derek!” — have now become the headliners. The increasingly C-list celebrities lined up to participate have found they are no longer alone in the spotlight.
“There is this weird inversion of what the show was meant to be,” said Conrad Green, an executive producer of the show. “Now when our celebrity competitors meet their dance partners, it’s the celebrity who is star-struck.”
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http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/fukuyamas-theorythe-state/432546/
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“This book has two origins,” Francis Fukuyama writes in the preface to The Origins of Political Order. “The first arose when my mentor, Samuel Huntington of Harvard University, asked me to write a foreword to a reprint edition of his 1968 classic, Political Order in Changing Societies. Its second inspiration was the decade that Fukuyama spent studying “the real-world problems of weak and failed states” and that inspired his 2004 book State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century.
In discussing the origins of The Origins, Fukuyama is being modest, if not disingenuous. He is best known for the international sensation caused by the publication of his 1989 essay “The End of History?” in the foreign policy journal The National Interest and the subsequent book The End of History and the Last Man. His thesis ignited a global debate: “What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the cold war, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such; that is, the endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalisation of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”
By chance, these three elements were united for the first time in Britain, although other northwestern European countries that were influenced by the Reformation, like the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, “also succeeded in putting together the state, rule of law and accountability in a single package by the 19th century.” But before their combination in Britain and its neighbours at the time of the industrial and democratic revolutions, the three elements of modern political order had evolved separately in different premodern civilizations: “China had developed a powerful state early on; the rule of law existed in India, the Middle East and Europe; and in Britain, accountable government appeared for the first time.”
Most of The Origins of Political Order is devoted to telling the story of how the state, the rule of law and accountability happened to evolve independently in different societies, before their combination in 18th-century Britain. Having been accused of determinism by some critics of his earlier work, Fukuyama emphasises the role of contingency. The origins of modern political institutions were “complex and context-specific.” For example, the decline in importance of extended families in early modern Europe, which resulted in part from the power of the medieval church, meant that “an emerging capitalist economy in Italy, England and the Netherlands in the 16th century did not have to overcome the resistance of large corporately organised kinship groups with substantial property to protect, as in India and China.”
Fukuyama rejects reductionist attempts to explain political and social institutions as mere epiphenomena of underlying economic or technological structures. “It is impossible to develop any meaningful theory of political development without treating ideas as fundamental causes of why societies differ and follow distinct development paths.” In particular, “religion can never be explained simply by reference to prior material conditions.”
For this reason, The Origins of Political Order, like Fukuyama’s earlier work, is at odds with the contemporary elevation of neoclassical economics as the paradigmatic social science. His intellectual affinities are with the great thinkers of the 19th-century sociological tradition like Weber, Durkheim and Marx, as well as with Hegel, whom Fukuyama tellingly identified as a social scientist in The End of History? With this sociological tradition, Fukuyama shares a view of politics as a product of history and evolution, and a rejection of the absolutism of Lockean natural rights theory and market fundamentalism, or “Manchester liberalism.” Against libertarians like Friedrich Hayek, who try to explain society in terms of Homo economicus, he says that a strong and capable state has always been a precondition for a flourishing capitalist economy.
Some readers, however, may think Fukuyama goes too far in de-emphasising the natural rights tradition that inspired the Renaissance and Enlightenment liberalism. Here Fukuyama’s historicism and his insistence that ideas themselves shape political order are arguably at odds.
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I enjoy reading my age twin Fukuyama born 1952, because of his unique postulates, no matter that I disagree with his broad-brush overlay/approach.
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http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/fukuyama/
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The ideal government system exists in so-called socialist countries based on parliamentary governance [practical wisdom shows that merit & not mooching prevails in such a parliamentary setup]
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“Fixing the public sector therefore has got to be a top priority for anyone interested in public policy. In countries where public services work relatively efficiently, like those in Scandinavia, people are willing to tolerate high tax levels because they think they’re getting something back. In the US, however, as in Latin America, many people object to higher taxes because they are convinced that the government will simply waste their money. The inability to implement effectively affects what policies will be chosen; the Obama administration’s arguments for universal health care in the US would have been much more persuasive if people thought the government could deliver on its promises.
So: stop worrying about public policy, and go back to humbler concerns about public administration. Solve that, and you’ll rise to the top politically.”
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I disagree with Fukuyama because the problems of public administration boil down to 3 things: 1) huli’au upside down civil service system [incl. hiring/promotion] which rewards incompetence & laziness/sloth; 2) corrupt procurement system [labor/service contracts] which rewards crooks & cronies all in one fell swoop [crooks are the bosses’ cronies]; 3) arrogant operational bosses who feel entitled to their gluttony of grades of service/job stratification excesses. Fukuyama yaks about “administering” but omits “how to administer” from his overlay. “Where’s the beef??!!”
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from inquisitor A-hole KingLit Ching — And what do you disagree with? [And what do you offer up, Mr. KingLit Inquisitor??]
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Shibai/phony Abercrombie panders to status quo unions/special interests via Charley Toguchi [field in-service honcho is Pepeekeo’s Lloyd Nekoba], & erects walls of resistance vs. younger turks who then leave Abercrombie’s gang [gang incl. Dickie Wong] in droves, who now will support progressive reformer Peter Carlisle. Old fuddy duddy Abercrombie showcased youngsters to entice younger demographic voters. GOP Carlisle will win over Abercrombie in 2014. GOP Aiona is clueless & an inept politico like Sam King was in 1970 [vs. Jack Burns]. Abercrombie simply made an ethnic make-up call/”affirmative action” in picking Solomon/Kahele to succeed Takamine/Kokubun, both Hawaiians allegiant [though Solomon correctly refutes State reapportionment which wrongly incl. military/college students as residents — Solomon desires electability & shall win hands-down on residency definition, thence increasing her sparse chance of getting elected].
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http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/sections/opinion/columns/too-much-activity-gunwales.html
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Asselbaye/Aoki failed to gauge the depth of longstanding ties between Abercrombie & Abercrombie’s cronies at the Capitol & outside the Capitol. These ties reinforced the conventional status quo and rejected the supplemental add-on of our Double A gang [Asselbaye/Aoki], who thru inexperience were clueless about the depth of cronyism rampant in Hawai’i.
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http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2011/10/06/13145-senior-dems-pushed-gov-to-shake-up-staff/
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“They just didn’t know what they were doing — you could see what was coming,” said another, referring to the resignations of Asselbaye and Aoki. “He was batting 1,000 percent getting almost every major thing wrong and not doing much right at all, it seems. So they needed to change it around.” Read between the lines — the young turks are not connected to the rastignacs/sycophants by their umbilical cords, ergo, the young turks’ idealism confounded inexplicably the corrupt ole’ boys & gals. True, our double A gang was out of its league in experience but AA’s fatal blow was its incapacity to spigot Abercrombie’s cronies in & out of government.
Abercrombie used & abused these young turks to gain the younger voter demographic — they served no other function — Abercrombie is the slap happy crony of the illuminati — ergo J*ps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati
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Teddy Roosevelt’s kneebreaker ego exactly a century ago today — Harry Kim is Teddy’s terminal incarnation
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http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/kim-mayor-2012.html
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Harry Kim’s megalomania reduxes exactly a century ago from today the identical issue of Teddy Roosevelt’s egomaniacal return foray to attempt to recapture the White House. The parallels are astounding. see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
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My queries to martial artist Mark Saito fka Mark Vera Cruz born 1952 [Kamehameha ’70 of Kapahulu], regarding his query on where judo genesis Kichimatsu Tanaka got Tanaka’s massage art from —
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Visualize your tombstone. What is its one word or one sentence inscription?
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What is your mission?
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Why?
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How do your martial arts contribute to peace and fulfillment?
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Baptist Rev. Jeffress’ pericope [short parable] or teaching illustration is fraught with unsettling contempt for others, based on sincerely wrong Rev. Jeffress’ Inquisition strictures. In contrast, my greatest role models Keoni & Lukini’s beautiful urgency and strength of their bond with Heavenly Father are beyond compare. Keoni & Lukini honor His Legacy of instilling covenants toward salvation by manifesting their own yet obedient/faithful extraordinary legacy of immense empathy and compassion for others.
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This is a very enlightening discourse which gives me a better understanding of Christianity and what is in God’s mind. I have always had difficulty relating to what captured the imagination and souls of the early Christians who were converted by the Apostle Paul. I can better relate to Christ’s parables that carried simple messages to simple uneducated people. These people were “empowered” by these radical messages who previously saw their lot in life as useless and without purpose. They were suddenly recognized as individuals by a personal caring God. I see our missionaries’ point of Jesus Christ using “irony” in his parables.
- Christ preached a gospel of liberation from injustice in startling parables and aphorisms. An iconoclast/progressive reformer, Christ broke with established Jewish theological canons and social conventions both in His teachings and behaviors, often by turning common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of His audience: He preached of “Heaven’s imperial rule” [traditionally translated as “Kingdom of God“] as being already present but unseen; He depicts God as a loving father; He squares shoulders with outsiders and criticizes insiders. Christ evokes not simply an apocalyptic eschatology/end-time, but more critically a sapiential eschatology, which encourages all of God’s children to repair the world. Since Christ lived and preached in an oral culture, scholars expect that short, memorable stories or phrases are more likely to be historical and factual.
- Keoni & Lukini Andrew exemplify Jesus’ Parables time and again, passionately and decisively. Pure and clean heart, righteous intent, lest a matter be wrongly done. An unclean person comes from the tenement, in the eyes of modern pharisees [a la Jesus’ Parable of the unclean woman] — yet who walks per Micah 6:8 purely and cleanly with Heavenly Father — is no less deserving in Jesus’ eyes than one who has scrubbed down to the last germ, so to speak. As Keoni & Lukini invoke, don’t ever issue judgment upon another, lest you be judged in return, as a book wrongly is judged by its cover.
Jesus makes clear that to forgive is to forget — propitiosity
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“And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17
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“God’s way of forgiving is thorough and hearty, -— both to forgive and to forget; and if thine be not so, thou hast no portion of His.” –Leighton
Wow. Jesus’ story doesn’t answer the “full of themselves” pharisees’ question; rather, the story challenges their question, changes it from “Who is my neighbor” to “To whom are you a neighbor” And just like that their universe was an expanded place.
We don’t aim at forgetting. Yet, when the power of forgiveness is asked for and given, the delightful paradox is that then we often do forget, just as Jesus intones. Ephesians 4:32/Romans 3:23/Hebrews 8:12 & 10:17.
The story of Job, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Jacob wrestling with God [Genesis], the Book of Lamentations and the Wailing Wall — all codify doubt as part and parcel of the journey of faith.
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And, in the Christian texts, the disciple Thomas is showcased as the walking, talking icon of doubt. And, when finally confronted by Jesus, Thomas is not criticized for his doubt. Jesus in no way is personally offended by Thomas’ doubt. Instead, Thomas is invited to see, think and experience for himself: “Put your hands in my wounds…”
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The lesson for us is that service to our fellow living beings is self-surrender and self-sacrifice. The nearer our service approaches His degree of self-sacrificing service, the more we shall be closer to God. The Atonement is that Jesus died for our sins. D&C 76:41-42. That we live thanks to Jesus.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=logBlKYKq2c&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhSr9ykm8zQ&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZgsfr5m8Tw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGHIT4gg5yA&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44tbkgo-wfU
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApMyLXiFF44
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7fmEDZJckY&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5y78UdW1Nw
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nFsJjQjzAs&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiM3AgRH3Xk
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from an observant civic leader —
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Thank you for going out of your way to ask me to sit down with you. I am working long days right now, but as soon as I catch up a little hope to talk with you,. I appreciate the offer. I would like to get to know you a little better and hear your ideas for going forward, and your position on the key issue for Puna, Hawaii County, and the state……
I am issue oriented, and reasonably politically active as time allows. Here are some of the things that I am interested in, – the budget, – things like deferrals, bond floats, furlough days, taxes, how we can make cutbacks in the county work force, reduce the waste, and the corruption, like we saw with the Kamaaina pumping contract and the recent election office scandal with employees using our facilities for personal businesses or parties, ect.
Being that public safety is roughly 60% of the budget and has so far escaped budget cuts do you think there is an air of being untouchable there and does that lead to feelings of entitlement, abuse, fraud, waste and corruption. The unions seem to get preferential treatment during the budget battles what are your ideas on how to deal with that? What do you think about public participation like what we are seeing with bill 270? Do you think the counsel is ignoring the public, giving them lip service but doing the very things people have complained about through out the process anyway?
We saw the public move to implement two laws here through the voter initiative process out of frustration with being ignored by the counsel and administrations in the 2% land bill, and the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority For Cannabis Ordnance. In both cases the council and the administration have refused to enforce the laws that residents enacted through direct democracy in Hawaii county (people taking law making into their own hands). Both these laws have been undercut particularly LLPCO. What do you think should be done about that? Should the government simply be able to ignore the very rare occasions people feel so strongly about issues they go through the extraordinary means necessary to get an issue on the ballot and get it passed.
My feeling is those laws should carry much more weight than the thousands of laws passed by our elected officials, yet we are being discouraged from participating on every level through the counties refusal to implement the laws we enact and through the process as we saw most recently with bill 270. We are put in the position of having to take legal action to get what we want with the county using our own tax money against us to stop us from being able to participate.
As you can see I have problems with the administration, I think my concerns are based on a solid foundation looking at the long history of how things unfold in Hawaii county. The results are pretty clear.
I believe the economy will continue to contract for the foreseeable future, and continuing to borrow to pander to the unions as the current administration has done and will continue to do is a recipe for disaster, That will destroy our bond rating and probably bankrupt the county unless we stop borrowing and make the hard cuts necessary to balance the budget. Differing 20 million in GASBY funds last year was a huge mistake, as was the 56 million dollar bond float. The current refusal to put the sort station out to competitive bid but handing it to the union by the Kanoi administration is a perfect example of the problems we have faced with political influence over contracts in Hawaii county for generations. What do you think about the job the mayor is doing, his appointments and hires?
I do not believe raising taxes or fees will work either as people and businesses are already underwater, asking them to give more instead of really cutting the budget IMO will further shrink the tax base and just make things worse. We need to help the small businesses and farmers, and talk or smoke and mirrors will not work…….On that I am off to work….You wanted to know what I thought, now you know….Aloha and Mahalo — hope to talk to you soon.
P.S. be careful who you surround your self with, politics is a ruthless game, many a good man or woman have lived to regret taking favors or advice from people, do what you think or know is right,,,,,I would like to talk to you about that in person…….
“cutting the budget”?When most states and municipalities are laying off
10 to 15 percent of their entire state’s and county’s workforce’s….
this is Kenoi’s idea of budget cuts…… 22 less county jobs on the Big
Island under Kenoi’s watch now than 4 years ago. He claims he is reducing the size of government….while handing the UPW
the Hilo Sort Station contract WITHOUT EVEN LISTENING OR EVEN HEARING
the private sector’s cost reducing proposal to the tax payer. In doing this Kenoi actually intends to increase the size of government by hiring and putting more
county employees in the Hilo sort station while announcing to the media in election year that he is reducing the size of government. Come on.$56 million dollar bond floats, deferring the GASB 45 $20 million dollar
payment for the County employees future pension Health benefits (of
course the actuaries told him “no problem”, it’s not the actuaries
problem but the county employees and tax payers problem when the county
loses $1 million dollars in compounded interest at a 5% return which
the county would have earned if the $20 million was not deferred),
laying off county employees 1 day a month instead of 2 or 3, spending
foolishly on his own t.v. show with the tax payers hard earned dollars,
hiring another former journalist (the count is I believe 6 of them) in a
high paying position to quiet the journalist’s criticism of his
administration and helping his re-election efforts….all of which the
tax payer pays for. If Kenoi again wanted to and his intent was to reduce county government, which he claims to the media and state legislature “we honestly have a county government we can no longer afford” than why did he he propose the county take over Hapuna and Pohakuloa State parks. This is not reducing the size of government. Please someone stop Kenoi before he bankrupts the county and the tax
payer ends up having to pay the consequences for his irresponsible
spendthrift ways.“We’re tracking the amount of bodies, not full-time equivalents,” Kenoi said, referring this week to that report. “We’ve been able to hold that
number.”I call that political doublespeak, there is something funny going on here again, how about some straight talk for a change. We need a number, show us how much we saved and unfunded positions don’t count because, well they were unfunded.
NOTE: This article was published 7.6.2010 in West Hawaii Today, with some subsequent edits as of August 2011 with new information on the Hawaii County Water Use and Development Plan Update Report.
Kona is at a quality of life crossroads. Even in this economic downturn, developers are submitting subdivision plans. Best guesstimates are 30,000 to 35,000 more homes could be built tomorrow that are currently allowed by zoning and approved subdivisions. Development will happen, so we need to preserve the quality of life for all of us who love our island life style.
The August 2010 Hawaii County Water Use and Development Plan Update is located at: http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/cwrm/planning/wudpha2010.pdf
The Plan Update states on ES 16 of the report:
809 – Hualalai Aquifer Sector Area
“This sector area includes Kona and the surrounding area, which has expanded significantly in the last 20 years. Water demands in the sector area are the highest on the island due to the increases in population and tourism. Development of high-level groundwater sources, primarily in the Keauhou Aquifer System Area, has relieved some of the stress to the basal aquifer. However, there should be concern with the on-going land development, as demands associated with the full build-out to LUPAG maximum density exceed the sustainable yield by four to five times. County Zoning full build-out demands are close to the sustainable yield if agricultural demands are excluded, and exceed the sustainable yield if worst-case agricultural demands are included. Although the 20-year projections indicate that demands will not approach the sustainable yield for some time, measures should be considered to control future water demands. Demand-side water conservation measures should be implemented by the potable water purveyors. It would be prudent for County Planning officials to re-examine land use policies; controlling the development density may be considered. Most importantly, the concept of using the highest quality water for the highest end use should be followed. Efforts should be initiated to utilize reclaimed wastewater and brackish basal groundwater for non-potable uses, thereby reserving potable water for potable domestic use. Water transfer from the adjacent Southwest Mauna Loa Aquifer Sector, which has a surplus of potable water sources, should also be explored.”
Hawaii County’s Mitigation Toolkit must include more than just concurrency; we need approve an impact fee ordinance and to use Chapter 32-Community Facilities Districts. The Hawaii County Code should have ordinances that provide a complete funding package of concurrency, community facilities districts (CFD) and impact fees. An ordinance on concurrency would require that infrastructure is in place before new residents occupy homes.
The Code has an ordinance (Chapter 32) for community facilities districts (CFD) to provide the funding to build the infrastructure. A CFD is created for the area that will be served by the infrastructure. The county provides the bridge financing by floating a bond to help the developer pay for the roads, sewers etc. The bond is paid by assessments on the new owner’s lots and paid by the properties that benefit from these services in payments over time. For example- a subdivision of 5,000 homes needs a sewer treatment plant, if the plant costs $50 million, the assessment is $10,000. per lot and usually paid along with property taxes. The developer should be required to provide adequate performance bonds to assure that the infrastructure is provided on time. The goal would be that existing residents are not impacted by higher taxes to pay for infrastructure for new residents.
The Code needs an ordinance for Impact Fees to be paid by new residents at the time they purchase a house. Impact fees do not go into the general fund. They are a “per-roof” fee that pays for the infrastructure in the district where the fees are generated. But if charges are due after the subdivision is complete, the money would help offset costs for the next subdivision and we end up with “infrastructure in arrears”, creating hardships for existing residents by raising property taxes island-wide to fill the infrastructure gap.
Average impact fees nationwide for single-family detached dwellings are $11,417 per year. This includes police, library, fire, general government, drainage, parks roads, sewers, water, schools ($4,704 per year) and non-utility uses. In most states all categories of land use are charged that benefit from the infrastructure: single family, multi-family, retail, office and industrial. This information is available at http://www.impactfees.com/.
Developers are against concurrency because it adds to their up-front fees. Developers borrow money to buy land, pay engineers to do the plans, have to borrow money to provide infrastructure and pay interest on the money they borrow. They don’t see cash flow to pay expenses until the houses or lots are sold. Responsible development can only happen if laws are in place that outlines the developer’s responsibilities so they know what they are required to do before they buy the land. This lack of clearly written legislation does not facilitate responsible development. The Hawaii County code needs to be transparent and updated in all of these areas.
Here’s several examples of our unclear laws:
1) If the Planning Department does not comment on a plan within 90 days, the plan is deemed approved. The Planning Department should approve or disapprove plans and record any conditions to “run with the land”.
2) Once subdivisions are approved, there is no expiration date or date to review. Subdivision plans should be reviewed periodically.
3) Developers do not know about their Fair share assessment costs until far into the subdivision process. Fair Share is a policy, not part of the Hawaii County Code. There is no surety for developers as to their costs or requirements, because the Planning Director decides. There is no surety for existing residents because there are no public hearings and there are no recorded fair share assessment agreements to view to provide accountability. Since the Mayor is elected every 4 years, and the Mayor appoints the Planning Director, the parameters for Fair Share could change every 4 years.
I believe it’s time to form an island-wide task force of Community Development Steering Committee Members to look at our development and subdivision codes and recommend updates and changes. This group could also learn about funding mechanisms and laws that are used elsewhere, make recommendations and introduce legislation in a complete package of funding mechanisms. New residents who choose to move here should pay for the necessary increase in infrastructure by paying assessments and impact fees. The quality of life of existing residents should not be impacted by traffic jams, packed schools, inadequate sewer plants or inadequate water supply and /or water systems or by higher property taxes. It’s time to update the Hawaii County Code to facilitate responsible development for the 25,000 to 35,000 new homes that will be built in Kona.
Hawaii County Water Use and Development Plan Update found at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/cwrm/planning/wudpha2010.pdf
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Debbie Hecht
Kailua Kona, HI
(808) 989-3222
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You asked my goals
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Debbie Hecht
Kailua Kona, HI
(808) 989-3222
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Goals —
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- Make government more responsive to the people
- Email newsletters to keep constituents and people island-wide informed
- Have talk stories on important issues with experts to educate the people
- Jobs: Support an eco-tourism industry by building a walking trail built along the Ala Kahakai Trail to link our parks, somewhat like the Appalachian Trail. The trail would be low impact on the environment and encourage bikes or walking. People could return year after year to hike the trail in segments. One of the goals of this program would be to protect the shoreline and shoreline access.
[Curt’s note: Yes the 2,000 ft.-wide government-owned coastal land setback was pure Deb brain. It’s the start of a negotiating point. Wouldn’t it be FABULOUS? 98 miles of coastland preserved. Wouldn’t it be super terrific if the county used a no build buffer zone for coastal properties? Deb is the ideas wonderkind!]
- Support Ag industry with Truth in Labeling; help to implement the Kohala Center’s AG plan
- Consider forming a county Ag Department with inspectors for invasive species who could be paid from fees charged.
- Expand alternative energy programs to reduce dependency on oils and reduce utility costs to citizens and government. Explore the use of tax credits for solar electric uses for homes and possible tax credits for business start-ups.
- Plan with the community and start to build athletic fields and courts at the 193 acres makai of Kealakehe High School and north of the police station.
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My Experience
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- Worked as a legislative aide for the county council researching and writing laws.
- Lead writer for the League of Women Voters on Initiative and Referendum, which was approved by voters in 2008.
- Small real estate business broker/owner in AZ since 1981 for Real Estate Equities: working for clients to purchase or sell land or residential income property, buying land and developing lots in small pieces of land (6 lots or less), buying remodeling and renting small apartments and managing apartments for others.
- Presently retired, my properties are managed by property managers in Arizona.
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Deb’s cup of tea —
Debbie Hecht, Campaign Coordinator Save Our Lands Citizen’s Committee
Kailua Kona, HI
(808) 989-3222
Earlier, —
Funding for the Lapakahi (Kaipuha’a and Lamalaloa) acquisition was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coastal and Estuarine LAnd Conservation Program (CELCP) (Which, in 2010, ranked this project #1 in the nation among 57 competing projects from other states) and the State of Hawaii Legacy Land Conservation Program.
The U.S. Congress established CELCP in 2002 to protect coastal and estuarine lands considered important for their ecological, conservation, recreational, historical or aesthetic values, and provides state and local governments with matching funds to purchase significant coastal and estuarine lands, or conservation easements on such lands, from willing sellers. Lands acquired with CELCP funds are protected in perpetuity so that they may be enjoyed by future generations. NOAA and the State’s Office of Planning-Coastal Zone Management Program jointly administer the CELCP program.
The State of Hawaii Legislature established the legacy Land Conservation Program (LLCP) in 2005 to provide funding to public agencies and community organizations for land conservation. The LLCP receives 10% of the State’s real estate conveyance tax (a tax paid by sellers when property is sold). The State Department of Land and Natural Resources administers the LLCP. From 2006 to 2010, the Legacy Land Conservation Program has issued $16.9 million in awards, and attracted $37.8 million in matching federal, county and private funds towards the protection of over 7,215 acres of cultural, natural, agricultural, and recreational resource lands. Funded projects leverage 70% matching funds from federal, county, or other private sources. On average, for every State dollar spent, $1.14 in federal matching funds are leveraged.
“The national #1 CELCP ranking is a testament to this property’s unique cultural and natural resources, which are invaluable to Hawaii and to our entire nation ,” said Senator Daniel K. Inouye, who spoke at the Kohala event. “The Kohala community, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, NOAA, and The Trust for Public Land should take pride in their efforts to protect this incredible place and its history for future generations.”
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http://www.tpl.org/what-we-do/policy-legislation/landvote.html
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Though this blip below was about Steve Jobs, it can be intoned of prophetic Deb Hecht —
Steve Jobs will be associated forever with the cultural icons who stepped outside the establishment. The “Think Different” Apple ads feature Dylan and Hitchcock and Picasso and Gandhi and Ali but the understated message is that Steve Jobs lives on that same unique pedestal. The words of that ad could well serve as today’s eulogy to Mr. Jobs:
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. They’re not fond of rules and they hold no respect for the status quo…. They push the human race forward…. The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.
The beloved, iconic, captivating symbol of the Apple, tiny bite taken, will remind us every day for the rest of our lives, and then through many generations beyond us, that a gentle genius created technology that went so far as to beguile us. Steve Jobs’ mind has blown our collective mind. Rest in peace, Steve, as we fondly and passionately remember your urging us all to “Think Different.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-nyad/steve-jobs-dead_b_998467.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=100711&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
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Deb Hecht has tremendous courage [not herd mentality like the status quo], a pure clean heart, and incredible prophecy [keep healthy the ecosystem of Hawai’i island, based on Deb’s experiences/wisdom Stateside — seeing the tragedy of the commons — oversaturation/overpopulation/destruction of natural resources]. Deb a tree-hugger with practical wisdom.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/vacation-offers-life-lessons-in-surviving-ups-and-downs-130521348.html
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From the airport to the Bay Bridge is maybe five miles. In that space of geography, I’m pretty sure that 87 highways merge to the bridge. I lose count of the times I was inching along — more accurately, centimetering along — only to find that I was driving in one of California’s Magical Disappearing Lanes.
Three hours to travel 55 miles. Now we can start our vacation. We’re a little rumpled and peevish, but we’re here.
Homemade, organic bruschetta. Cantaloupe slices. Deep-fried pastry-esque pasta balls sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Some foamy, whipped ginger ale “emulsion,” the waiter calls it. Put any one of these things in my mouth, and I’m just eating. In fact, the emulsion stuff tastes like crap. Cantaloupe is great, but rather pedestrian. The pasta balls are … whatever. Bunch of starch between my teeth. The bruschetta is salty and slightly overwhelming.
But, put all four of these items in my mouth at once? I feel my eyes dilate. Pretty sure I moan. My brain sends an all-points bulletin: “Any nerve ending not otherwise engaged in something important, please report immediately to Taste Section of the brain! They need backup, now!”
It’s nearly erotic. When was the last time you ate a meal so delicious that you were disappointed each time you had to swallow?
The difference between fine restaurants and supernaturally great restaurants is combination. The way things come together. The whole becomes not merely greater than the parts, but in many ways something entirely else. Anybody can cook a great dish, but these chefs combine food types and spices that I would never think to buy during the same trip to the grocery. Some of the items, individually, taste like crap. Who’da thought?
Sunday, we eat at some French bistro. Honeybees begin to dive bomb us. I try to explain to the bees they are not French. That there are no flowers on the table. That neither my onion soup nor my hair contains pollen for harvest. When this doesn’t work, I swat at them with my napkin. It gets personal between me and one of the bees. A Mafia bee, I’m thinking, because instead of attacking me, it stings my girlfriend on the palm of her hand. We spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in the hotel room while she sleeps off bee venom and I monitor for anaphylactic shock.
“Can’t we get a break,” I mutter to myself in protest. Then a deeper, wiser voice speaks: “No. There are no ‘breaks.’ Not for anyone. Life contains a never-ending carousel of pleasant and not-so-pleasant. Comforts and discomforts. Joys and sufferings. Might as well complain that winter always follows fall.”
Maybe the good life is like being a great chef. Maybe it’s all about how you combine things. Put things together. Even the things that, individually, taste like crap.
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Kailua-Kona was the capital of Hawai’i during the reign of Kamehameha the Great, then to Lahaina with Kamehameha II, then to Honolulu with Kamehameha III, per Don Pakele born 1944.
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Sarah Silverman is an obnoxious comedian, a hit among today’s youngsters. She has a chip on her shoulder, which she uses to her advantage in her acerbic routines.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Silverman#Personal_life
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Trumped-up Jackie Kennedy —
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/opinion/dowd-memoirs-of-a-geisha.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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Loma Linda U’s famed Children’s Heart Transplant facility enabled and in turn was enabled by Chinese prodigies, thanks to the Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in China.
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From Paula Helfrich —
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Thanks Curtis … I want to commend another book on overseas Chinese all over the world – by Stirling Seagrave (also born in Myanmar) LORDS OF THE RIM. He has also written two books about the Yamashita Treasure stored in the Philippines by the Japanese during WWII, and supposedly went to OSS/CIA to eventually fund covert operations. He is the son of Dr. Gordon Seagrave, the famous “Burma Surgeon” who was very friendly with my Dad during WWII. I remember Stirling as a skinny blond kid that spoke Shan and Burmese as well as we did (my brothers and sisters) and we used to wonder if there were many haoles like us??? Uhh … no …..?! cheers all! I am most eager to learn more about the Hung Wai Ching/LBJ connection … it is all about history! //paula helfrich
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from solon Lorraine Rodero Inouye —
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from Paula Helfrich —
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Curtis — it would be wonderful to have a complete overview of the Reapportionment mess. I have been appalled since I saw the commission name list — it could not have happened any other way. Surely the Democratic majority does not need a republican press release to know the names and connections of all those commissioners!! I am surprised there is not marching in the streets!! I hear a lawsuit is pending, and I’m so impressed with Lorraiane, Malama and Richard Ha. Bang some drums! Meanwhile, here in Myanmar … as of 2 days ago we now have unlimited access online to YouTube, CNN, MSNBC, Irrawaddy Magazine, NLD, Burma Campaign …. EVERYTHING has been unblocked AND the censors have stopped blacklining books and papers. May not sound like much in the west, but it is kinda cool not to have to go through the proxy servers to read WSJ or New York Times!! There is also a new campaign to replace our wonderful old jalopy taxis (probably a good thing), refurbish the railroads, and tourism is up a staggering 40%. All overseas Myanmar have been invited to come home (just like the Viet Kieu in 1995) with no restrictions, and we hear that Banks are reopening and that credit cards will be honored again. There is a new US Charge d’Affairs, Michael Thurston and Special Envoy to Obama Derek Mitchell. They are balanced, objective diplomats and we are so encouraged that change is coming quickly! The sanctions unfortunately hit only the private sector, but even the rice/timber/gem industries are all being privatized … talk about sweeping change! Yes, Aung San Suu Kyi says it is not enough …. but there are thousands of opinions and you can feel the life-force moving every day!! Quite an amazing time to be here and participate in nation building!! Much love to all Hawaii .. it can be done! //paula
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Paula Helfrich is internationalist Sterling Seagrave.
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http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1277326.Lords_of_the_Rim
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High fantasy — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fantasy
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Fox News thankfully is moving toward the Center/Moderate mainstream.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/opinion/krugman-confronting-the-malefactors.html?ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/opinion/panic-of-the-plutocrats.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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Properly regulated, legalized marijuana is a revenue source of enormous proportion vs. the amounts paid out to self-serving law enforcement agencies.
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Cartels Face an Economic Battle
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On a side note,
Hemp Plastic is an affordable bio based natural fibre composite to replace oil based raw materials.
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Cannabis Economics – Industrial hemp – Hemp Products – Europe.mp4
Other countries are leaving us behind………Big mistake as Hawai’i could easily establish a large market share and produce substantial economic activity…….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPD7G9awvZg&feature=share
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Glamor & danger are attractions of marijuana smoking as long as personal use of it is illegal —
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We can always change the channel, but people arguing passionately are more entertaining than solemn folks speaking in measured tones about Very Important Issues. Conflict and spectacle sell (see WWE and its distant ancestor, the Colosseum). The attraction is tied to our sporting spirit and the lure of the contest.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/civility-is-golden/2012/02/17/gIQAAZQhKR_story.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_public_offering#Procedure
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IPOs generally involve one or more investment banks known as “underwriters“. The company offering its shares, called the “issuer”, enters a contract with a lead underwriter to sell its shares to the public. The underwriter then approaches investors with offers to sell these shares.
The sale (allocation and pricing) of shares in an IPO may take several forms. Common methods include:
A large IPO is usually underwritten by a “syndicate” of investment banks led by one or more major investment banks (lead underwriter). Upon selling the shares, the underwriters keep a commission based on a percentage of the value of the shares sold (called the gross spread). Usually, the lead underwriters, i.e. the underwriters selling the largest proportions of the IPO, take the highest commissions—up to 8% in some cases.
Multinational IPOs may have many syndicates to deal with differing legal requirements in both the issuer’s domestic market and other regions. For example, an issuer based in the E.U. may be represented by the main selling syndicate in its domestic market, Europe, in addition to separate syndicates or selling groups for US/Canada and for Asia. Usually, the lead underwriter in the main selling group is also the lead bank in the other selling groups.
Because of the wide array of legal requirements and because it is an expensive process, IPOs typically involve one or more law firms with major practices in securities law, such as the Magic Circle firms of London and the white shoe firms of New York City.
Public offerings are sold to both institutional investors and retail clients of underwriters. A licensed securities salesperson ( Registered Representative in the USA and Canada ) selling shares of a public offering to his clients is paid a commission from their dealer rather than their client. In cases where the salesperson is the client’s advisor it is notable that the financial incentives of the advisor and client are not aligned.
In the US sales can only be made through a final prospectus cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Investment dealers will often initiate research coverage on companies so their Corporate Finance departments and retail divisions can attract and market new issues.
The issuer usually allows the underwriters an option to increase the size of the offering by up to 15% under certain circumstance known as the greenshoe or overallotment option.
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It’s phenomenal that homophobia [vs. gays] is diminishing, but marijuana-phobia still is virulent. Flashovers are law enforcement special interest self-perpetuation and pharmaceutical lobby/cartel vs. marijuana entrepreneurs.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/cynicism-skepticism-can-clog-your-thinking-growth-128144123.html
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And cynicism does not become me. It makes me small. It’s an ego defense. If I risk my heart in the hope of goodness and authenticity, will my heart be broken and regularly disappointed? Absolutely. But the alternative is actually succeeding in getting to my grave with a never-broken heart and no disappointments.
By my measure, that would mean I had wasted my life.
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from indubitable KingLit Ching born 1936 —
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I have been fascinated with the marketing potential of a wide range of Hawaiian made products since my days at Alexander & Baldwin where I had a major role in “Diversified Agriculture” looking for new products. I was heavily involved in Papayas and also looked for specialty product investments by A & B (Pacific Rim) in fresh produce such as fresh lettuce which is now a major industry due to the popularity of fresh salads, fresh mushrooms and avocados and natural materials resources. My investigations led to the A & B investment in Universal Furniture (raw materials like Asian hardwoods) where A & B made a compound 15% DCF return on investment which eventually sold for $434 million, the largest sale of a furniture company to that date and made $100 Million for CS Wo (who were going bankrupt before I got involved with Universal).
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I still contend that Hawaiian made products can be marketed as a package worldwide and are unique and attractive enough for major growth and profitability to become a world class company that could be acquiring “specialty” companies all over the world. Regards, KL
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from KingLit — why do you like attractive women instead of plain-looking women? Reply — goodness gracious, not true! Besides, I’m entitled to my own libido! This is not dystopia! Is it because I don’t get light-headed over KingLit’s dearest friend Asia? I recognize person Asia as our great internationalist with immense cross-cultural wisdom, but no, KingLit does not lord over me, much less my libido.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia#Social_groups
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In praise of Ekolu Tanimoto of Honomu and Ekolu’s astute command of economics and history — here is his & my hero Ron Paul —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul#Political_positions
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Now he tells us. On Wednesday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke referred to the nation’s unemployment rate as a “national crisis,” an obvious if depressing fact of life to the 25 million Americans who have been unsuccessfully attempting to find full-time employment.
But to finally hear those words from the man George W. Bush and Barack Obama both appointed to lead us out of the great recession is a bracing reminder of how markedly the policies of both those presidents have failed: “We’ve had close to 10 percent unemployment now for a number of years, and of the people who are unemployed, about 45 percent have been unemployed for six months or more,” Bernanke said. “This is unheard of.”
But why is Bernanke just now discovering this after having overseen the Fed’s purchase of trillions in toxic mortgage-backed securities from the too-big-to-fail banks that sacrificed people’s homes in a giant Ponzi scheme? Why did he throw all of that money at the banks without getting anything back in the way of relief for the people the bankers swindled?
The housing meltdown, which has robbed Americans of a considerable portion of their net worth, has led to the continued depressed consumer confidence that is the prime cause of crisis-level unemployment. In another of his too-late-to-matter moments, Bernanke acknowledged that “strong housing policies to help the market recover” would “clearly be very useful,” but he failed to suggest any.
Bernanke, along with then-New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, helped implement the Bush strategy of saving the banks in the hope that their rising tide would lift our little boats. That remained the strategy when President Obama rewarded Geithner for having saved AIG and Citigroup by naming him treasury secretary in the incoming government.
With the Geithner appointment, and the even more disturbing selection of Lawrence Summers to be his top economic adviser, Obama sealed his own fate as president. By turning to those disciples of Clinton-era Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, a prime enabler of Wall Street greed, the new president fatally betrayed his promise of hope.
If you still need confirmation of just how decisive a betrayal those appointments were, check out Ron Suskind’s new book, Confidence Men, a devastating insider account of the Obama White House that clearly identifies as the source of this president’s failure “Rubin’s B-Team,” Summers and Geithner, “two men whose actions had contributed to the very financial disaster they were hired to solve.” Suskind quotes then-Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., one of the few who dared stand up to the Wall Street lobbyists, as telling Obama, “I don’t understand how you could do this; you’ve picked the wrong people!”
Of course the Democrats from the Clinton era don’t bear all of the responsibility for the radical deregulation of the financial industry that ended the sensible restraints on greed installed by Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression. Indeed, the inspiration came from Republicans led by Phil Gramm, the then-senator from Texas who as head of the Banking Committee authored the legislation that Wall Street lobbyists had long pushed unsuccessfully.
The mayhem they wrought and the subsequent big-money rewards to Rubin and Gramm do not seem to have shocked this president or the leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Rubin became chairman of Citigroup and was rewarded with $120 million while he guided the bank to the edge of bankruptcy. Gramm went to a leading position at the Swiss-based UBS, the continually troubled institution now in the midst of its latest scandal, involving fraudulent trading. In addition to a $45 billion direct TARP bailout, Citigroup got $99.5 billion, and Gramm’s UBS $77.2 billion from a $1.2 trillion secret Fed loan fund.
Gramm and Rubin were partners in what should be considered the crime of the century, speaking in moral and not legal terms since, as regards the financial world, the bad guys get to write the laws. Thanks to their efforts, which allowed the creation of the “too-big-to-fail banks” and a totally unregulated derivatives market in toxic home mortgage securities, we entered the Great Recession, but neither of its authors has ever been held seriously accountable for the enormous suffering he caused.
On the contrary, Gramm and Rubin’s “just free Wall Street to do its thing” ideology still dominates the economic policies of both major political parties. Rubin’s acolytes have controlled the Obama administration’s economic strategy of saving Wall Street by betraying Main Street, and Gramm, who recently endorsed his former student at Texas A&M, Rick Perry, for president, remains the free-market-mayhem guru for Republicans. On Election Day, whoever wins, we lose.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/opinion/boring-cruel-euro-romantics.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.housingwire.com/2011/07/21/occ-begins-absorption-of-the-ots [from a banker — so we good banks are suffering.
the recent fedral audit was awful. they have changed from the ots to the occ. it was like a federal investigation. I’m glad it’s over, but i was a stress-case. so my recent vacation ws much needed.]
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/opinion/oligarchy-american-style.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/opinion/krugman-failure-is-good.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/opinion/gop-monetary-madness.html?ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/krugman-depression-and-democracy.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://baselinescenario.com/2012/02/09/mean-spirited-bad-economics/
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from Kinglit Ching born 1936 —
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Gilani [not Rudy but the writer below] does a pretty good job identifying the scope of the deeply entrenched flaws in Wall Street that ties into much of what I read separately from authoritative sources. I was on to much of this from our Harvard Business School days when our classmates laughed at courses dealing with public responsibility. They were carried away with their own analytical capabilities and how to manipulate “the system. My concerns boiled down to insider trading and conflict of interest. I hit Doug (Brown Brothers Harriman) with this dilemma and receive no response. The problem with Gilani is that he cannot identify WHO performs the regulations. There is a serious danger of heavy handed regulation or ineffective regulation that now exists while Goldman Sachs continues to thumb its nose at regulators/SEC.
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“Lawyering” and current laws are what is at issue. GS can continue to rape investors because they can manipulate the system with sharper lawyers. I am hoping and praying that the SEC can nail GS with felonies and actually put some of these guys in prison. That will send a message like it did with Boesky, Millikan/Drexel Burnham, the S & L guys and Enron (or did it?). Hank Paulson came from Wall Street (GS) but he had the integrity and character (humble lifestyle) to make a difference. The other Wall St. types that enter government are actually lobbyists. As much as you hate to hear this, Obama has the intelligence, integrity and political savvy to make a difference. He probably has the Republican majority leadership now boxed in by forcing them in a public forum to support efforts to INCREASE regulation. The Cantors and Issas in Congress are cancers within the system and are being forced by public opinion (read their constituency/voters, NOT their moneyed lobbyists) to support Obama. “The Mob” (according to Cantor) demonstrating on Wall St. and now starting across the country, has had it. Like the Arab Spring, they are exploding with indignation. They may lynch Cantor which would be a nice irony for a change wouldn’t it? — KL
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A viewpoint about which we were talking and makes some sense.
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Kinglit’s pollyanna rose-colored look at Obama —
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As I said in my original e-mail to JJ Smith, I see Obama creating/supporting major legislation to regulate Wall Street and the banks. Obama created modifications to Health Care that were historic and landmark to protect an underprivileged and neglected segment of society. Repeal “Obamacare” is the battle cry of the Republicans. Jesus would not pass off this evil with a mere parable, he would have dealt with it like he did the money changers in the temple, he would throw them out on their ass or worst. You mistake thoughtfulness and careful forward thinking for weakness. You mistake his willingness to seek consensus as timidity. I completely agree with this approach because it is the “high road.” It proved worthwhile in exposing an evil (in it’s most literal sense since it includes ugly racism which the people of the state of Hawaii are guilty of) Republican Party. I had predicted that Obama would “fight fire with fire.” He recently took off the gloves. You now see an Obama from the Old Testament who will seek justice. You label Obama a greenhorn. Of course he is as a first term President half way through his first term. I still see Obama as the best President ever despite his flaws. –KL
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/opinion/keynes-was-right.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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KL’s 2nd ex-wife is African-American, & KL’s only son [Chris is half-African American] is our Brown Mercury a la genesis surfer George Freeth [half-Hawaiian, George made famous Huntington Beach]. KL
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“Papa Mu”
Bio Story:
Terri enjoys oil painting, hiking, surfing, swimming, scuba diving, jogging, camping and growing taro (Kalo). She shares these hobbies with her children so they can appreciate the environment and its resources.
Her love for oil painting was enlightened by the beloved artist Pua Borges of Keaukaha, who had taken the time to share a talent with Terri when she was just 14 years old at a church art activity. She later took an art class from Mr. Earl Dela Cruz of Hilo High School and still continues to paint today. She is truly inspired by the natural beauty of Hawaii and her life experiences as a Native Hawaiian. She expresses her love for her culture and people through her paintings. She is an advocate for preserving the natural resources that bring the breath of life and beauty to the islands and its people.
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Robert Kiyosaki is a Hilo boy, best pal w/Rich Kimi’s son Al, Hilo’s Rich Kimi 1925-2008 is Robert’s “Rich Dad,” so to speak, Rich’s mantra being “money is god.” Rob grew up among us in Hilo. Rob’s dad Ralph 1919-1991 not related to Kiyosaki store in Hilo. Ralph was DOE State boss, & mom Margie 1921-1971 was nurse. Rob oldest child, then Barbara, then Jon, then Beth. Contrary to Rob’s portrayal about his dad, Ralph was the most generous, sweetest, & most loving person on Earth — Ralph was every man’s alter ego — compassionate/thoughtful/humblest. What dismayed folks was when Ralph accepted GOP Lt. Gov. candidacy w/bully thug Sam King 1970 [King ate his words when King incredulously accused Gov. Jack Burns of allowing the murder of Sen. Larry Kuriyama — shot dead allegedly by affected landowner in personal squabble]. Ralph was like a fish out of water in politics, & Ralph never should’ve accepted misanthropic King’s offer [GOP’s greatest ever solon Statehood Joe Farrington 1897-1954 was King’s dad’s backer as appointed Terr. Governor 1952-1956]. Which is why Rob seemingly characterized dad Ralph as a bumbling oaf. In one’s way of thinking, insult was added to injury when common saint mom Margie died at age 50 in 1971, just after dad Ralph’s loss to Dems Burns/Ariyoshi 1970. Rob saw Ralph’s actual Providential strength/altruism as weaknesses. Rich Kimi’s son Al/Tai On-Laura Chock’s son Terrill/ Rob Kiyosaki, born 1947, were childhood pals/classmates. Laura had sundry store on Mamo St. next to Laura’s dad’s chicken store. Laura/Tai On born 1927 [Tai On died 2001], always were good to the neighborhood kids. Per consignment, Laura would tear the comic covers from the comic books to send back to the comic publisher & Rob always asked Laura for the inside comic book body. Of course, Laura gave Rob the comics w/no afterthought at all. Laura found out after Ralph/family moved to O’ahu that Rob apparently was charging a dime an hour to have schoolmates read the comics in Rob’s house. Rob sold out his magnanimous dad Ralph. So I call my observations RICH MATTHEW, POOR ROBBY – as in what shall it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul – Matt. 16-26. See gang, we ARE/grew up among the characters in Rob Kiyosaki’s book. Rob’s “Rich Dad” is contractor Richard Kimi 1925-2008, hotelier. Rich/brother Billy born 1923 are fortunate guys who were raised in everyday Hilo who had swimming pool. Their dad Bill Kimi Sr. 1898-1971 was individualist chinaman in attitude. What fascinated Rob Kiyosaki about Richard Kimi was that Richard was compelled to make a dollar out of 50 cents, so to speak. Capitalism Chinese survivor mindset. Anyhow, Richard Kimi is no Ralph Kiyosaki. Everything Richard was, Ralph was a world away much more empathetic/compassionate/altruistic. Sorry, but Rob Kiyosaki got Rob’s bearings in reverse. Post-1920 born buddaheads like Isamu Kanekuni born 1921 never heard of giri ninjo – service to humanity/Social Gospel. Ralph Kiyosaki knew this precept & Ralph lived up to this creed.
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Lee Kuan Yew lords over his Singapore dictatorship with an iron fist, Lee’s beneficence an outward appearance to the world at large.
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Capitalist coda/ouvre Napoleon Hill inspired utterly loving and humblest of souls Rev. Norman Vincent Peale [The Power of Positive Thinking — “joy increases as you give joy to others”], Hill’s greatest contribution to humanity.
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Thank you, greatest publisher Mike Aiello born 1959, for featuring the most remarkable entrepreneurs & destiny-makers such as erudite & gorgeous Terri Lei Napeahi. May I add that Terri also does NOT receive funding from race-based private sources such as Kamehameha Schools [fka Bishop Estate]. Exceptional backdrop here — Terri self-made and self-sustaining. Napoleon Hill/Lee Kuan Yew/Robert Kiyosaki/Jimmy Arakaki could learn more from Terri esp. on perseverance than Terri ever would learn from these hyped-up icons. Age definitely not a factor. John the Baptist followed Jesus, even though John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Kudos to authentically Hawaiian and humblest of souls Terri Lei Napeahi. Alter egos/mentors manifest Terri’s homage to others, though the inverse is the case — a taisho/overlord such as Jimmy Arakaki is no match for an unparalleled magnanimous Terri Napeahi — equanimity knows no equal to Terri.
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Terri is attentive to Biblical Enoch —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoch_(ancestor_of_Noah)#The_Books_of_Enoch
The Books of Enoch recount how Enoch is taken up to Heaven and is appointed guardian of all the celestial treasures, chief of the archangels, and the immediate attendant on God’s throne. He is subsequently taught all secrets and mysteries and, with all the angels at his back, fulfils of his own accord whatever comes out of the mouth of God, executing His decrees. Enoch was also seen as the inventor of writing, and teacher of astronomy and arithmetic, all three reflecting the interpretation of his name as meaning initiated. Much esoteric literature like the 3rd Book of Enoch identifies Enoch as the Metatron, the angel which communicates God’s word. In consequence, Enoch was seen, by this literature, and the ancient kabbala of Jewish mysticism, as having been the one which communicated God’s revelation to Moses, in particular, the dictator of the Book of Jubilees.
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As with Steve Jobs, Terri’s mind-blowing metaphysical approach [one mind, one heart, so to speak] — be not of this world — bespeaks Terri’s interface with sentient projects — whereas Terri’s sentient projects are extensions of Terri’s spiritual freestyle creations and uber meme imagination.
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Jobs believed that producing technology requires intuition and creativity, while making art requires rigorous scientific discipline. That was maybe his key insight, and his subsequent mission, Isaacson tells us, was to marry science and art, those two troubled bedfellows, and then market the heck out of them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-et-1029-book-20111029,0,2517537.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews+%28L.A.+Times+-+Top+News%29
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Link Ashida has no game plan about Hokulia. We pay out legal fees for nothing.
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http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/county-pay-coupes-117k-legal-fees.html
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http://ownerscounsel.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-cert-petition-filed-with-scotus.html
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http://eminentdomain.uslegal.com/state-laws-on-eminent-domain/hawaii/
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from a cogent Kenoi critic —
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The facts are obvious to us all who aren’t government sector employees, union officials, or favored developers with an “in” with county government who abuse our county awarded procurement contracts at the expense of the tax payers.
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[From Steven Kalas to Curt July 19, 2001:
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the state did not/could not prove the cause of death, either. So, an objective juror could not have known how Caylee died. It follows logically, then, that an objective juror could not have known why Caylee died. Or by whose hand. And, short of any other witnesses or additional evidence, all they had was a back-fitted argument of likelihoods and probabilities.
So, a jury of Casey’s peers returns the verdict “not guilty.” And Casey walks. And, like a lot of Americans, I have this gut feeling that she got away with killing her daughter. The prosecution either did not or could not remove reasonable doubt. Conclusion? The system worked.
Our judicial system makes sacrosanct the provision and protection of rights of citizens vis-a-vis the power of the state even if it means that murderers sometimes walk. The Constitution says, in effect, that protecting citizens in this gross imbalance of power matters more in some cases than justice itself. More sometimes even than truth.
The last time I planned any weekday evening around a television program, it was “Hill Street Blues” (1981-1987). In one memorable episode, two punks break into a nunnery. They sexually assault, torture and murder a nun. In the absence of a confession or corroborative witnesses, police Capt. Frank Furillo and ADA Irwin Bernstein collude to drop the charges and release the perpetrators, knowing full well that an angry mob is waiting outside. Sure enough, one punk jumps up and turns on the other punk.
But Capt. Furillo will sleep alone that night. Because his girlfriend, public defender Joyce Davenport, is angry. Disappointed in him. Struggling to respect him. She says, “My client would have confessed to killing Abraham Lincoln to avoid that mob tonight.”
“I went by my instincts, and they were right,” Furillo protests.
“You can trust your instincts, Frank,” says Joyce. “Maybe even I can trust your instincts. But I can’t trust everybody’s instincts. I want there to be rules. And I want them obeyed, especially by people wearing badges and guns. You perverted the law tonight. And you’re so damn happy about snagging your confession, you don’t even see it yet. Please see it, Frank.”
And Furillo goes home. Alone.
On his way home, he stops off at his local parish, kneels in a confessional, and says, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”
Curt’s note: “Collude” as in Furillo/Bernstein causing “judgment” [mental breakdown of perp(s)] by “mob [angry crowd] rule” — prosecutors can be heavy-handed/authoritarian, & delusionally narcissistic — so that even when they fast-track to expected judgeships, they cluelessly laugh at their own banal bromide boring jokes — incredulous!!
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Las Vegas Psychiatry and the author of “Human Matters: Wise and Witty Counsel on Relationships, Parenting, Grief and Doing the Right Thing” (Stephens Press). His columns appear on Sundays. Contact him at 227-4165 or skalas@ reviewjournal.com.
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Paul Scofield’s King Lear is the one performance for all time, besting Olivier/Gielgud/Ralph Richardson/etc.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_scofield#Career
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/knowing-limits-sets-us-free-for-other-dreams-goals-126476258.html
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Feelings matter. The ability and willingness to feel deeply brings
richness and depth to life. It clarifies values, invites passion and
beckons intimacy. To be emotionally conversant with oneself is an act of
courage. All of your joy, all of your anger, all of your grief, all of
your guilt, all of your fear — to be keenly related to the depth of our
emotional reality yields vitality and the hope of meaning. It is the
universal antidote to feeling blue. Feelings make us alive. They enable us
to be more present, faithful and authentic in relationship.
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feelings, Petunia!! 😉
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Y3o-PzB9I&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqIuM4CqbVE
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http://www.youtube.com/user/jasminecommercemusic#p/a/u/1/1A3Yh2l4D28
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Y7b9ItE4I
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1YCkLbvWPw&feature=related
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Shakespeare’s influence is ubiquitous —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_and_the_Fury#Explanation_of_the_novel.27s_title
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Explanation of the novel’s title
The title of the novel is taken from Macbeth’s soliloquy in act 5, scene 5 of William Shakespeare‘s Macbeth:
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
Immediately obvious is the notion of a “tale told by an idiot”, in this case Benjy, whose view of the Compsons’ story opens the novel. The idea can be extended also to Quentin and Jason, whose narratives display their own varieties of idiocy. More to the point, the novel recounts the decline and death of a traditional upper-class Southern family, “the way to dusty death”. The last line is, perhaps, the most meaningful; Faulkner said in his speech upon being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature that people must write about things that come from the heart, “universal truths”. Otherwise they signify nothing.
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But Shakespeare “plagiarized ” Scripture, as is true of the rest of our Western civilization —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare%27s_religion#Revision_of_older_plays
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Great twist to tale by Marlo Thomas [Danny’s daughter]
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The long road to acceptance for the forsaken of society
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/krugman-nobody-understands-debt.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://baselinescenario.com/2011/10/15/a-dangerous-idea-in-the-deficit-reduction-supercommittee/
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U.S. currency will default??
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/opinion/krugman-killing-the-euro.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/opinion/legends-of-the-fail.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/opinion/the-hole-in-europes-bucket.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/opinion/krugman-here-comes-solar-energy.html?ref=paulkrugman
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/opinion/party-of-pollution.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/opinion/krugman-phony-fear-factor.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/opinion/rabbit-hole-economics.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/opinion/euro-zone-death-trip.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/opinion/an-impeccable-disaster.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence_Men [true story of Obama’s thieves — Geithner/Summers/Bernanke/ Paulson/Rubin/etc.]
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/opinion/krugman-the-social-contract.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/opinion/economic-bleeding-cure.html?ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/obama-tax-rich-_b_959395.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=091311&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief//baselinescenario.com/2011/09/03/three-*
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/opinion/the-fatal-distraction.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/opinion/the-hijacked-crisis.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/us/politics/15issa.html?_r=1&pagewanted=pr
int
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/opinion/credibility-chutzpah-and-debt.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/post_2262_b_919217.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/opinion/the-wrong-worries.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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Money raised thru social security taxes are spent on other things beside social security, and such IOUs/Treasury bonds will be redeemed now that the oldest of our baby boomers are retired [born 1946]. Problem is that w/our national debt at $16 trillion, coming up w/the money to cover these IOUs/Treasury bonds is a whole ‘nother story. For President Obama’s tenure’s unemployed/bankrupt companies in which our country’s tax revenue plummeted over $400 billion just between 2008 & 2009, adding $6 trillion in debt between 2009 & 2012 also adds to the problem of paying back social security’s IOUs/Treasury bonds. But Medicare & health care costs are our biggest problems.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Bingham_I#Legacy
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Bingham’s son, Hiram Bingham II, was also a missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. His daughter Lydia married the later Hawaiian missionary Titus Coan. His grandson Hiram Bingham III was an explorer who claimed to have discovered Machu Picchu and became a US Senator and Governor of Connecticut. His great-grandson Hiram Bingham IV was the US Vice Consul in Marseille, France during World War II who rescued Jews from the Holocaust. Bingham Hall at Punahou School, President Barack Obama’s favorite hang out spot when he was a student there, is named in his honor.
In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Hiram Bingham was named in his honor. It was hull number 1726. Bingham was caricatured as the character Reverend Abner Hale in James Michener‘s novel Hawaii.
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The kotonk victimization mentality [imagine always a demonic perpetrator] pervades today’s “I’m in love with myself” decadent materialistic “mammon” [money is god] society, due to our post-WWII affluence and arrogance as Americans. “Identity” politics manifest such selfish behavior [race/gender/social class/etc.]. Brian is relatively young and ultra-idealistic, and I hope that practical wisdom becomes him, such as comprehending that the Korematsus did not accomplish equal footing, but rather our all-Nisei combat soldiers. Thanks for your kneebreaking honesty.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks#In_scientific_research
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The immortal cell line/scientific discovery, & human consequences, all astonishing yet devastating in scope. I thank godsend Sarah for her wisdom, comfort, and solace.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/freudian-slips-disconcerting-illuminating-sometimes-fun-132873658.html
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One day it was my turn. That is, the focus of the group’s work was on me. I talked of my family-of-origin and my childhood experiences. I spoke of my father’s many teachings, especially of his never-ending, oft-repeated emphasis on the importance of education as a means to procure earning power and a reasonable or even comfortable livelihood.
“The garbage truck came on Mondays and Thursdays,” I told the group. “More than once he would point to the men riding outside the truck, jumping off to grab the cans and pour the refuse into the truck. ‘See them,’ he would say. ‘That’s what will happen to you if you don’t go to school and work hard.’ ”
I told the group that, looking back, this teaching was like a lot of my father’s teachings: true and important on its face, yet wrapped in a teaching illustration fraught with an unsettling contempt for others. “Riding on a garbage truck is honest work,” I protested. “And somebody’s got to do it.” It just felt uncomfortable to measure the potential success of my life negatively against the lives of blue collar workers.
Perhaps 20 minutes later, the topic had changed. The group was asking me about my vocation. About my decision to become a priest. I spoke of my calling. How I had discerned it. Why it was meaningful to me. My fears, hopes and dreams.
“What does your father think about religion?” the professor interjected.
And yours truly, without hesitation, opened his mouth and said: “I think he thinks about it like taking out the garbage. Somebody’s got to do it.”
The room fell silent. Suddenly everybody was staring at me. The professor had that sympathetic half-smile on his face with raised eyebrows. It’s a facial expression they teach you in therapy school. You put it on your face when your patient has said something really revelatory and important, but the patient didn’t hear himself say it, and you’re waiting for the penny to drop.
I had exhibited the quintessential Freudian slip. My unconscious had made a connection with my deeper emotional reality. I had unwittingly admitted that some part of my nexus for being a priest was formed in reaction to my father. I was going to make a living in a way that did not exactly fit his view of the world. I was defying him.
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In memory of my peer Fernando Pereira, my Luso/Portuguese messiah —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Pereira
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior#Sinking_of_the_ship
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Warrior_Case_(international_law)#State_responsibility
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http://www.springerlink.com/content/02wu6488370u382j/
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Political participation has a kindred soul in 2% open space preservation fund genesis Debbie Hecht. Debbie is my Nippon Fujin.
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Fūjin (風神?) is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods. He is said to have been present at the creation of the world and when he first let the winds out of his bag, they cleared the morning mists and filled the Gate between heaven and earth so the sun shone.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C5%ABjin
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/opinion/krugman-springtime-for-toxics.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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Of course, in magnanimous Debbie Hecht’s heart of hearts, Deb would like to go snorkeling , read a book, and hang out with the people she cares about. Tremendous balance/equanimity here in Debbie. Yet in Debbie – the purveyors of surface rhetoric and distorted perceptions ultimately sense an implacable wayfinder who cannot be had for any price, a person unreservedly and sincerely committed to ensure public resources for the public good both now and in the future.
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More than any of Debbie’s contemporaries, Deb embodies the spirit, vitality, and meme/ouvre of an entire population, as she expresses and accomplishes unpretentiously with clarity, proportion, humor, and urgency. Deb personifies the narrative of reversing our societal entropy/suffering, and of her resistance to betrayal and corruption in government and of her resistance to our exclusive social hierarchy, and of her great prophetic gift of squaring her unique moment in history — to preserve right now Nature’s pristine beauty for all to enjoy from generation to generation over the long stretch of time. And of possessing the agency/will to transform ourselves and our tomes toward our own destiny — of self-determination.
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No matter the outcome, Debbie Hecht of our 2% Open Space Fund is my big hero, my Biblical Joseph, my Kauikeaouli/Pi’ehu Iaukea/Mary Kawena Pukui/Marianne Cope/Mabel Smyth/Mabel Wilcox!! Affecting anecdotes do not suffuse sufficiently the enormous compassion of Debbie Hecht. In astonishment and delight, one experiences the stupendous and exhilarating soul of this hair-raising progressive reformer of resplendent unction. Deb’s holy trinity consists of 1) vision of ensuring pristine Nature for our progeny; 2) Deb’s emotional groundedness in not letting her head overtake her soulful & soft as feather down comforting heart — humbleness replete; 3) Deb’s inexorably contagious patience/love for all. Vision is cognition/cerebral. Groundedness/empathy are metaphysical/mystical.
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A question & answer format a la David Frost & his clipboard is not an authentic fluid conversation of substance — it is a worthless stolid banal interview. A worthwhile learning experience comes when something spontaneously uttered prompts a thought and a reply in someone else. The dialogue erupts in revelation just short of madness [poetic spin] when the dialogue flows and moves and crosses and switches effortlessly, thus producing unexpected flashes of brilliance/insight as it takes surprising turns. Monumental surges of unflappable thought and wisdom manifest ironically and uncontrollably. In President Bush Jr.’s case, you’re no good to your live combat soldiers being dead, so photographers are forbidden when the coffins of our KIAs arrive at Dover Air Force Base — once dead, our heroes are an embarassment a la Macbeth’s murdering — killing our memories to delay the collective concussion of lives needlessly lost. Bush our negative exemplar. Deb Hecht’s personality and approach blessedly and contagiously swim elusively in our collective mien/consciousness — sometimes seemingly out of reach, but more often in the lee of our sea of thought processes. Spontaneous strokes of genius energize out of Deb’s give and take authenticity and realness.
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Controversial theoretical physicist Peter Lynds suggested a model of eternal recurrence in a 2006 paper. Others have approached the question of eternal recurrence from a physics perspective in different ways, including a hypothesis based on the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics. Other cosmologists such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Max Tegmark consider the possibility that the known universe is just one of many in a multiverse, presenting the argument that existences identical to our own recur infinitely over infinite space.
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Viscerally, it’s not fair that life as we know it ends, but the Universe lives on forever. The Universe has no beginning and no end. Inexplicable!! Teacher Deb, what
is your feeling about your “purpose” in life if “there is no beginning and no end?” 
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle#Criticisms
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consilience
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Two celebrated painters — poised/composed Degas said to impetuous/trenchant Whistler – “Why do you act like a man with no talent? Why do you embarass yourself like this??”
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The elixir to peace and joy for Whistler could be found in one word — love, as in “The Pilgrim’s Progress — in Words of One Syllable” –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Aikin#Works_attributed_to_her_as_Mary_Godolphin
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Phlegmatic/enigmatic personality Angel Pilago could use an Aikin mendicant. See songs below 😉 —-
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great female rocker Suzi Quatro born 1950 —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpaMMlq_nhU&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL120A756DD4A2EEC8
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and an older yet “all in” [go for broke] Suzi Q!! —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCMPQiT2lNg&feature=related
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and her incomparable elder, Paul McCartney born 1942 —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZd8R-cT2gA&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBExw680Btk&feature=related
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You don’t think male dancers are sexy? Go to time clock 2:00 minutes of McCartney’s Matchbox song & enjoy the boogie vamp/riff as these awesome “yakuza” male dancers twirl on one foot. The glide/slide notes-riffs coincidentally are the same as the exact time clock 2:00 minutes of Little Richard’s song below in which Muhammad Ali’s utterly gorgeous daughters shimmy & shake. Ohh, to be young again!! 😉 [chuckle]!! —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ7drIDV88w
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhTAZmMP6ME&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTiqHPoRM_U&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmLgT7mj7Z8&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMdWzIITwoM&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQBKpV9emKc&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHLgdXnf-G0&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsHFAtKey84&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn9TAWVbUEo&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvz4Cnav2F4&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_zlk5EhSbc&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRJQLzc-bco
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoXIk7KL_IQ&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZRI7B7vdYA&feature=related
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Deb Hecht reminds me of the Red Violin with mystery/metaphysical visionary gifts on top of Deb’s realness/authenticity/honesty!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120802/
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In 2006 63% of Hawai’i County voters enacted our 2% open space fund ordinance. In 2009 our County Council by ordinance stopped payment for 2 years, after which payment is to resume as of July 1, 2011. In 2010 57.5% of Hawai’i County voters enacted our 1% open space fund charter amendment.
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Save our Lands Citizen’s Committee “pledge” —
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“I pledge to honor the voters of Hawaii County who voted for the 2% Land Fund ordinance in 2006 to deposit 2% of our property taxes in an open space fund. I will vote to support resuming the deposits to the 2% Open Space Fund in 2011 and I will vote to make sure that deposits are not suspended again.”
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“[P]ledge” and “honor” are precatory desires and not enforceable. “[V]oters” also enacted our 2010 charter amendment for a 1% payment. Thus derivatively, to use “voters” as our template is to endorse the 1% payment and not the 2% payment, since our charter supersedes [preempts] our ordinance. And because the 2010 charter amendment was enacted after the 2006 and 2009 ordinances, the 2010 charter amendment construes that a council member’s “vote to support resuming the deposits” is not a vote for 2% but just a “vote to support resuming the deposits.” Point is that the “pledge” needs to be tightened up.
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modified statement:
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“I guarantee that I as a County Council member shall vote on our County Council that 2% and nothing less of our property taxes shall be paid into our County’s open space acquisition fund, and I guarantee that I as a County Council member shall vote on our County Council that a 2% open space acquisition fund charter amendment be enacted.”
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Deb Hecht is the conservator of nature — steeped in wisdom & equanimity.
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“… if you cannot be your own best cheerleader who then?”
encourage others, and encourage your walk alone with God [Micah 6:8]
Curtis,
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Another way to state your point is to be happy with who we are and at peace with the world. One should not have to rely on the views and opinions of others for self fulfillment. Walking alone should be a blessing indicating the luxury of solitude and privacy. This is my valued life as a hermit to contemplate the desert theology. Yes, authenticity/realness does come from self respect.
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To crash and burn professionally and hit rock bottom should be viewed as an opportunity to re orient oneself. This is why I suggest to Larry that being fired is a blessing in disguise. It allows him to find other opportunities which open up new doors.
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Curtis,
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My friend Larry has crashed and burned. Larry wrote an article that “explained” the motives of terrorists in occupied countries. A plethora of violent criticism descended on his employer, threatening to cancel their subscriptions. Boss then fired Larry. A certain number of readers that I am not familiar with have attacked Larry and told him that they disagree with him and that he deserves being fired. My question to you is how should one handle himself when the bottom falls out of his life and he hits rock bottom? This is a combination of questions for you – practical (personal life and career), philosophical, theological and socio–political. My advice to Larry is attached.
I am still waiting for an answer from UCLA’s Makaweli about current displays in the Japanese American Museum here in LA and whether or not they are “balanced” in recognizing Hawaii’s Japanese Americans. I will send this information to you so that you can ask our friend on Capitol Hill Danny Inouye to intervene to recognize Hawaii’s contributions to give self-worth to Japanese in America (WWII 442nd infantry soldiers). Anti-Hawaii influence Kemi thankfully has resigned from the museum.
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One new exercise that I have just started is to “discover one’s self” (self examination) to figure out who I think I am. It is a fascinating exercise due to the extreme cross section of influences and a recognition of what is meaningful to define oneself. I am finding that Dad [Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002] was much more of an influence on me than I have been willing to admit. You need to try it and tell me who you are. Regards, –KL
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From: KL Ching
To: Larry
Subject: Blessing In Disguise
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Larry,
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Being fired from your employer is a blessing in disguise, in that it has insignificant readership and you are not a good fit because you are a liberal progressive. You need to find a platform where you can shine. This means that you must carefully think through and put together material that best portrays your extraordinary skills. Can you network with any powerful people in your country? You may need to take a casual meeting and develop it into a meaningful advocate for you. Do you have any friends in its political parties? These people have access to the power brokers in both politics and industry.
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Yes, a blessing in disguise to take you in a new direction with your life. You will have to consider playing a totally different role outside of your training. You have the skills to do many significant things. This may be just what is needed to get experienced Larry off his duff to do something great in his life. Do it not only for yourself but do it for your sons and wife! Do it for your country! Take some chances, reach high. GO FOR IT! Regards, –KL
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from liberal Jewish Israeli Larry born 1951 —
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I meant, instead, to shock Israelis and friends of Israel into seeing how badly we’re hurting the Palestinians by denying them independence: It’s so bad that it’s helping drive them to try to kill us. This is something I believe, something liberal Israelis and friends of Israel believe, and I wrote that if we were to start saying so publicly, it might force other Israelis to finally confront the reality of what we’re doing to the Palestinians, and thereby get them to see that it’s wrong and must stop.
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My intention was to shock people into recognition, but I ended up shocking many of them into revulsion, and twisting what I wanted to say into something I didn’t and don’t mean at all.
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What I mean is this: The occupation does not justify Palestinian terror. It does, however, provoke it. Palestinians do not have the right to attack or kill Israelis. They, do, however, have the incentive to, and part, though not all, of that incentive is provided them by the occupation. I believe that if Israel gives the Palestinians their independence, we have enough military power to neutralize whatever leftover incentive they would have to attack us. So my purpose with regard to Palestinian terror against Israelis is not to legitimize it, God forbid, but to end it.
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Larry doesn’t see the link between our WWII “enemy alien” 442nd/100th Batt. boys who saved our Japanese [Nikkei] in America & Israeli Muslims who are identical in Israeli patriotism/loyalty with our Japanese American riflemen in American patriotism/loyalty. Thence, though Larry is a progressive liberal Jewish Israeili, he is not a reformer in the most sensible way/mode.
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from KingLit Ching —
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I feel so fortunate that I can conduct business from home (or from anywhere in the world as long as I have my laptop and cell phone). I traveled around the world with my lady friend for a year and conducted business from England, Southern Calif., the Big Island, Myanmar, and Thailand. A female travel companion is ideal in sharing experiences, especially one who you are crazy about and have an intimate relationship. Ummmm, just thinking about it is invigorating to the senses! I am very happy being single without responsibilities and obligations. Relationships require attention and nurturing. I am free as a bird to come and go as I please. My plate is full. Accepting love is not my problem. I have some long time friends and business colleagues who have remained close personally with expressions of love; both male and female. A couple of these women are truly amazing with common business and personal interests PLUS their intoxicating sexuality. One exuded a sensuality that I have not found in any other woman. Lia was born in Naples and had an explosive temperament like Mt. Vesuvius. Her tastes were in antiques with aged and weathered looks. She dressed very unconventionally. Her cooking was fabulous and she was a generous caring thoughtful person. Lia was near perfect. — KL
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The Point — Crossroad of Persons’ Natures —
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Denise Takashima born 1953 is a beautiful blossom of a baby boomer — vivacious/tantalizing/mesmerizing — everything experienced in our post-WWII born liberated generation. And yet Denise is very traditional like KingLit on our most elemental sensations of love/humility/generosity/patience. Which is why I see Denise as a mirror image of KingLit on the point of living/the feeling of joy/one’s life mission [to be of help to others]/etc.
i can relate to the brunette…i don’t do pretty.your emails allow me to escape…
denise
March 2011 Japan tsunami — Flotsam — finders keepers, losers weepers
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If the flotsam/debris are claimed by the rightful owners who retrieve them, then they remain the property of the owners. If they are not claimed by the rightful owners, they belong to the finder.
I have a statement: Anybody who gives his life in war is an idiot.
I guess I left off the quotation marks to let the words have their full effect. They aren’t mine, but I’m related to them. They’re my Uncle Bill’s words, and his credentials for uttering the remark are a shade better than mine.
He may well have been the sole Marine to have survived driving landing barges on three bloody invasions in the South Pacific. I asked an old Marine vet once how rare Bill’s survival was. He was gifted of speech: “I’d say survivors of what your uncle did could probably hold their reunion in a phone booth and still have room for most of Kate Smith.” (We’ll pause while youngsters Google.) “My guess is that your uncle is unique.”
Bill said that aside from knowing that any minute was likely to be your last, the worst part of the job was having to drop the landing barge’s front door so the guys could swarm out onto the beach. Despite the hail of bullets against that door, he had to drop it, knowing that the front five or six guys would be killed instantly.
The phrase Bill hated most was “gave his life.” That phrase is a favorite of our windbag politicians; especially, it seems, the dimmer ones who say “Eye-rack.”
“Your life isn’t given,” I remember him saying, “it’s brutally ripped away from you. You’re no good to your buddies dead, and when the bullets start pouring in you don’t give a goddamn about God, country, Yale, your loved ones, the last full measure of devotion or any other of that Legionnaire patriotic crapola. You just want you and your buddies to see at least one more sunrise.”
Bill also served on land and experienced something so god-awful that he thought he would go mad: “Tom [his best friend] and I were trotting along, firing our rifles, and I turned to say something to Tom and his head was gone.” (Bill had great difficulty telling this. I guess I felt honored that he had not been able to speak of it for years.) He said the worst part was that while still holding the rifle, the body, now a fountain, continued for four or five steps before falling. He hated to close his eyes at night because that ghastly horror was his dependable nightly visitor for years — like Macbeth, murdering sleep.
By sheer chance I was out on the sidewalk in front of Bill’s house (we lived next door) when he arrived home from the war. I wasn’t even sure it was Bill at first, he looked so much older.
I blurted, “Hey, Bill, welcome home.” He was two feet from me but neither saw nor heard me. I knew the phrase current then. Bill was “shellshocked.” Not the current “post-traumatic stress disorder” or whatever the P.C.-sounding phrase is today. For the first six months he was home, he slept in the yard.
You will think less of me for this, but my friend Jim and I, noticing how poor Bill jumped at sudden sounds, thought a firecracker might be in order. Bill’s training kicked in by reflex. He hit the ground so fast it looked like film with frames removed. And, lacking the standard-issue shovel, he started digging with his hands. He never knew who did it. As for Jim and me, I trust that this will be deducted from our shares in paradise.
Isn’t it the excellent combat chronicler Paul Fussell who gets credit for the phrase “the thousand-mile stare”? It described the look of the haggard soldiers coming back from their first battle as the eager, fresh-faced kids — which they had been a few days earlier — filed past them on their way “in.” By definition, both groups were the same age, but there were no young faces in the returning group. They looked more like fathers than sons.
It amazes me that this bungled war can still be considered controversial. Who are the 28 percent anyway, who think that George W., the author of this mess, has “done a heckuva job”?
The other word Bill hated was “sacrifice.” Sacrifice is something you give up in order to get something in return. What good are we getting from this monstrous error? Cooked up as it was by that infamous group of neocons (accent on last syllable) who, draft-averse themselves, were willing to inflict on the (largely unprivileged) youth of this country their crack-brained scheme for causing democracy to take root and spread like kudzu throughout that bizarre and ill-understood part of the world, the Middle East.
What service is this great country getting out of all this tragedy, other than the certainty that historians will ask in disbelief, “Was there no one to stand up to this overweening president?”
Prolific mind-body writer/self-promoter Chopra —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepak_Chopra#Criticism
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KingLit’s O’ahu ideas friend Bill Ouchi born 1943 —
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/26/AR2008092600801.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ouchi
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Buddaheads [Hawai’i Japanese] Ouchi & Hilo boy Robert Kiyosaki do not link up — Ouchi into relationships, Kiyosaki into money/passive income. Kiyosaki is socially adroit/cunning, but Ouchi doubles down/fathoms deeply in sincerity/authenticity.
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from great chronicler & ideas man Tom Coffman born 1942 —
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Curtis,
I really enjoyed talking. It buzzed me up. I hope I can drop in on you some time in Hilo.
Your question about Ariyoshi was interesting. I was a Tom Gill guy. When the Republicans came to us after we lost, I led the argument against going over with them. I said that was no way to nurse our wounds, and that Ariyoshi was in the great tradition of the Democratic Party to which we were attached. The room was full and tense, but there was no question about the outcome of the argument. I had known Ariyoshi since 1968 when he was completely isolated between the warring camps of Nelson Doi and Najo. He conducted himself with dignity and integrity. As we went forward I realized that Ariyoshi shared our deep concerns for the environment, and for instituting a planning process that would take care of our resources rather than destroying them. In other words, he genuinely brought Tom’s concerns to the table on the fifth floor but they were wrapped in a consensus style. I have gotten to know him better a bit at a time over many years, and his message is always the same. His concerns are the same, and he has the same fire burning.
I was browsing through Ben’s [Cayetano] book today and stumbled across this passage, which prompted my writing to you: “Once, an Ariyoshi supporter lamented that no matter what the governor did for the Hawaiians, it never manifested itself in votes. In predominantly Hawaiian communities … Ariyoshi’s vote total in his three gubernatorial elections remained basically unchanged, regardless of how much he did for the people who lived there. Nevertheless, Ariyoshi never wavered in his efforts to help the Hawaiians.”
The same could be said of environmentalists and others who undervalued him.
Tom
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to Denise Takashima —
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Howzit Denise: Tom Coffman born 1942 [looks like he was born in 1952] is our greatest historian & chronicler, a real deal ideas person who’s able to make sense of
seemingly random/fortuitous events [e.g., great buddahead Masaji Marumoto’s link with Naval Intelligence’s altruist Cecil Coggins & the subsequent combat use of our all-Nisei
soldiers WWII]. Please respond to him per his query below & CC me. Thanks!
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From: tomcoffman
To: CurtCurtis,Which book is Denise describing? Is it Miyamoto’s account of his journey to Japan in 1937? I read a chapter of that and found it immensely interesting. Tom
> has tom read the first book?
> I can snail it to him when I’m finished.
> almost done. so more to read!
> aloha,
> denise
Age doesn’t guarantee wisdom, but it helps if a person is heartful/mindful enough to make sense of accumulated knowledge/experiences — which is why I try to list
the birthdate of the person. Tom Coffman’s epitaph is the exemplar of the greatest of ideas persons/leaders — “What do I know? [“I don’t know” were Tom’s
words to describe his tombstone]. “Getting along”/”working things out” ergo peace and goodwill are Tom’s hopes for humanity. “Togetherness” to Tom is exemplified by
metaphysical forces who made it their life mission/fate/destiny to achieve world peace, e.g. Nana Veary/Alvin Shim. Tom’s epiphany on Shigeo Yoshida is what Hung Wai
uttered — “spiritual brother” [what Shigeo meant to Hung Wai]. Tom’s describes Tom’s “Huck Finn” Kansas childhood as agrarian, to me right in line with the Granger rebels
[vs. the railroad barons/banking moguls]. Tom reprises Sockless Jerry Simpson. BTW, Oren Long/Martin Pence — larger than life egalitarians/altruists/fearless progressive
reformers — are native Kansans like Tom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Simpson Tom engaged in history’s holy grail — the Civil Rights movement in the Deep South —
where Tom lived MLK’s dream — equal footing for everyone.
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Tom Coffman’s recognition of Shigeo Yoshida [Yoshida said in 1937 that war might be the best way to show AJA loyalty to America, per Coffman] makes Yoshida a co-equal with Hung Wai, but
Yoshida’s race/DNA relegated Yoshida to backroom supporter in the eyes of Whites/observers. Yoshida was not Hung Wai’s co-equal. Yoshida was Hung Wai’s speechwriter, so to speak. I
never heard of Yoshida exhorting our 298th boys to fight for freedom. Yoshida was not an extrovert but a philosopher introvert, though a great baritone orator when Yoshida “turned it on” for
Yoshida’s Nikkei audience.
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Kinglit Ching born 1936 on Tom Coffman born 1942 —
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Nice size up of Tom. I would also describe Tom as an idealist. He is very sensitive and compassionate. He seems to be introspective and somewhat of a loner liking to get away and find solitude and peace as he contemplates life and the World. This explains his affinity toward Tom Gill and maybe to George Ariyoshi (?). –KL
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To Hawaiian expert Don J. Pakele: Please input wiki wiki on Ana Loke. I contacted Suzy Case [former Congressman Ed Case’s mom] for input from the Case ohana/family. Thanks, gang. Kansas grangers [vs. railroad barons-banking moguls]/etc. had major impact on Hawai’i history, ergo larger than life progressive reformers like Oren E. Long [liberated plantation kids via attainability of high school diploma for kids born after 1919, Long was our DPI public schools chief 1934-1946], and sullen Martin Pence [renegade Democrat amid GOP domination], and historian Tom Coffman [Tom’s “Huck Finn” agrarian Kansas childhood reprises Sockless Jerry Simpson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Simpson] [Tom engaged in our modern holy grail — the Civil Rights movement in the Deep South – where Tom lived MLK’s dream — equal footing for everyone].
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Ana Kanaiana Loke > > Thanks Curt. > The Anna Rose story (Queen Anna) is interesting. Did some more research. See the attached. Anna Rose was her english name. Her real name was Ana Kanaina Loke. Is that a familiar name in Hilo history? Regards, — Fred Greguras > http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1936&dat=18981001&id=qbAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=omkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=847,3799498
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Boxing czar Bobby Lee born 1921 is half Tagalog Filipino [Bobby’s dad Felix Fajardo changed Felix’ surname to Chinese Lee because Sakadas/Pinoys were at the bottom of the social
ladder 1906 immigration genesis — so that Felix could own a restaurant/store like the Chinese entrepreneurs who first came to Hawai’i via labor contracts in 1852. Bobby’s mom is Luso-Portuguese brabas [Paele/Popolo] w/kinky hair-dark features — Bobby’s dad was Manila/Quiado white Spanish Pinoy, & Bobby is a spitting image of his dad. Bobby’s phone no. is 488-5026, 99-1622 Aiea Heights Rd. Bobby’s gorgeous wife passed away recently, Bobby’s native Lahaina village sweetie Fushikoshi [Naichi, not Uchinanchu-Okinawan]. Bobby’s biggest bribe offer which Bobby turned down was when Nippon businessmen put a fat envelope of cash on Bobby’s desk & wanted Bobby to resign from the WBA boxing org to head/
become president of the Nippon WBF. Bobby said “no thank you,” but Bobby confesses that if Bobby were tempted to open the envelope, Bobby might’ve taken the money [Bobby is only human]. The key to Bobby’s legacy as international boxing czar Hank Kaplan’s [1919-2007] next enshrinee [Hank died of cancer in 6 months before Hank got Bobby enshrined]
to the IBHoF in Canastota NY — Bobby kept boxing clean [free of the criminal underworld/mob fixed fights] in Bobby’s 65 yrs. to date as our godfather of boxing. Bobby’s 2 golden rules which kept Bobby out of the racket/graft-corruption in boxing — 1) “I was always poor, so what’s the difference now — I’m okay being poor!” 2) “Gang, all I can be is dead, so take your kill shot — come & get it, guys” [to the mob]. Clozer — when Bobby was our Joe Louis 1939, a couple of Chinese businessmen came to see Bobby’s parents to sponsor Bobby as our Chinese golden boy [Bobby still is Hollywood handsome/charismatic]. When these Chinamen found out that Bobby’s dad was Sakada Fajardo & not Chinese, this was the last of the Chinese “influence” on Bobby.
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Ruddy Tongg/Clarence Ching/KJ Luke [1st local Asian residential developers — Salt Lake/Damon Tract] used atty George Hong [Fasi’s boy][Hong & Iwai p/n], not Hiram Fong’s
law firm. Hiram was solon, not a hard scrabble atty/litigator [Korean Kaua’i native/brilliant Choy headed Hiram’s firm]. KJ/Clarence & son Wally — loved women — which is how KJ covered for Sam Damon [itchy boto] & got Damon tract. Charley Cooke spoke fluent pidgin English to immerse/interchange w/locals. Charley’s dad Art/Masaji Marumoto’s dad always dialogued in pidgin. Issei/Nisei female domestics/male chauffeurs were used as spies for Big 5 haole scion families — these Nikkei were part of the haole scion families — no need “medicare” — the haole families took care of our Nikkei. Nikkei writers Okihiro/revisionist leftists got it all wrong — upward mobility was evident though labeled as benevolent paternalism/white man’s burden. Gus Yamagata was an early BoH Nikkei, as Tad Iwamoto was to 1st Haw’n [then went to Luke’s Hi Nat’l Bank]. Rusty Blaisdell’s Nikkei boys incl. Sugiyama [Terr. Bldrs] & Kunimoto [exec. aide]. Frank Thompson was the atty who double-crossed Pablo Manlapit, Frank the mogul atty over 80 yrs. ago — Frank lived here/married Matson exec daughter.
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Alibaba.com is the world’s largest online clearinghouse where buyers and sellers trade merchandise. It began in 1999 in Hangzhou near Shanghai to link English-speaking corporate buyers w/suppliers of cheap manufactured goods in Mainland China. Alibaba.com is to international trade what eBay is to person-to-person commerce — an online mega-middleman whose first stock sale in 2007 was the biggest initial public offering since Google went public in 2004. As the global economy integrates, the middleman/go-between will flourish, not disintegrate.
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R.I.P. amazing Amy Winehouse [as Tony Bennett says, she never sang words she didn’t mean] — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzbOJsgCoh0&feature=related [you think this is vulgar? “What kind of fu*ker is this?” — I beg to differ — it is real/art in how it is expressed with its inflection]
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the short utterly erotic orgasmic life, over the long uneventful one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wcgq37gTB4&feature=player_embedded
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111018154150AAFqmmN
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R.I.P. Whitney Houston — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7an_mz-OMDA&feature=related
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Michael Jackson’s flair — http://s1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/mimirudy/MIMIS%20VIDEOS/?action=view¤t=Michael_Jackson__Billie_Jean_Mot-1.mp4
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President Reagan raised the debt limit 18 times & raised taxes 11 times [& under today’s tea party spending cap, Reagan’s military buildup which won the Cold War would have been impossible], yet Reaganism is synonymous with fiscal austerity. Star Wars impelled Reagan, just as our inherited from Bush foreign “shot/shell” impel President Obama. Reagan’s sense of proportion, though contrived, simply pickbacked on Nixon. Reagan’s sartorial elegance is the common thread w/Obama. Image-makers are only human — thence the expedient CYA [cover your okole] illusions of Reagan as austere, & Obama as our savior vs. Wall St. But in reality Obama’s hacks are our Wall St. insider looters [Geithner/Paulson/Summers/etc.]. President Obama’s being African-American took the wind out of the sails of Gaddhafi’s Muslims, since Obama symbolizes “everybody’s equal,’ which helped spread the fever of freedom thruout today’s Middle East.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/opinion/bombs-bridges-and-jobs.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/opinion/krugman-the-path-not-taken.html?ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/opinion/setting-their-hair-on-fire.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/the-texas-unmiracle.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/catastrophic-stability/
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/opinion/withholder-in-chief.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-new-party-of-reagan/2011/07/19/gIQAuckfOI_story.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/opinion/krugman-the-centrist-cop-out.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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JFK’s real nature, not his Hollywood conjured one —
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/13/1006581/-George-Will:-JFK-Built-Berlin-Wall
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Symbolic racial harmony of U.S. — President Obama is the greatest figure Illinois has sent to D.C. since Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s Illinois was a State divided between Southerners from Kentucky/Tennessee, vs. Yankees from the Erie Canal/Great Lakes — these 2 factions took up the issue of slavery a generation before the rest of the country, settling the matter in 1824 w/a bitter plebiscite which banned the sale/ownership of human beings. of course, eccentric African-American reactionary Alan Keyes was the GOP sacrifice at the altar vs. Obama, Keyes insisting that Jesus Christ never would vote for Obama, a moot point since Jesus is not registered in Illinois. Of course, a century after the Great Migration to Chicago, this polyglot metropolis turned out to be the promised land for Obama, where solving America’s racial problems did not turn Chicago into a Midwest Zimbabwe/white flight to the subrubs.
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Our nation unified after the Civil War because southern planters had ruined themselves into destitution [no slavery anymore], and our Dixiecrats needed the North’s bailout of the Deep South’s abject economic self-ruination.
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Jimmy Carter was clueless in Capitol Hill dealings, though idealistic [Carter took Malcolm X’s “human rights” slogan].
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From KingLit Ching born 1936 —
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Has anyone conducted an in depth analysis of opportunities and a rationale? Has anyone recognized the strategic potential of a “bridge/catalyst/enabler” bringing together in Hawaii East/South East Asian interests with US interests supported by world class expertise and leadership? I have spoken with a key Hawaii leader with major responsibilities in the coming APEC Conference which would be an ideal opportunity to network for elite future partners. I don’t expect any exciting results.
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With all due respect to citing of efforts and thinking about Hawaii’s vision and role, Hawaii is at a dead standstill with half baked attempts and nothing truly creative and aspirational in the form of a SOLID PLAN in the process of implementation. All shibai (BS) mired in Polynesian paralysis. Sorry, I had a hunch nothing solid was being pursued.
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Where is the vision and PLAN from the locals? What has been the impact of the East West Center over the DECADES? We act like the cow college we are. No one has vision or ambitions. I expect too much. Think about it. The World is coming to Hawaii for APEC. All our politicos are worrying about is making Honolulu pretty. Very sad.
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The East West Center has been around for too many decades without elevating to a more meaningful mission and role. It’s too bad that no one, especially someone from Hawaii, has the vision and leadership skills to jump start something exciting. People in Hawaii are too complacent because the environment is truly paradise. It takes adversity to stimulate explosive creative thinking. Have there been more in depth studies? –Regards, KL Ching
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1990:
For the first and only time, a U.S. president has a joint meeting with the heads of government in the Pacific Islands. President George H.W. Bush holds a United States-Pacific Islands Summit at the East-West Center. Counterintuitive, but East-West Center Democrat genesis Presidents Kennedy/Johnson/Carter/Clinton/Obama never utilized our East-West Center.
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Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 was the dreamer back in 1955-1956 when he described his hope of the University of Hawai’i becoming the Athens of the Pacific. He even sought later to sell influential Japanese Buddhists on financing the East-West Center expansion. I believe that HW as a UH Regent promoted the EWC concept. John Burns and Lyndon Johnson foresaw “wise minds of the East meeting wise minds of the West.”. I agree with you. George H.W. Bush’s United States – Pacific Islands Summit could have served as a launching pad for bigger and better ideas.
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No one in Hawaii followed up because of mediocre Hawai’i and EWC leadership. Imagine, the EWC was financed by Congress! The piggy bank was there for the taking! The opportunity for a grand scheme was there for the taking! In a quick review of 50 years (year by year analysis) of EWC history, I do not see any concrete efforts at a grand scheme. It is a HUGE shame on Hawai’i that Congress seeks to close down the EWC by terminating financing. Obama’s mother as an EWC graduate probably created the most meaningful and effective program now in practice in Asian 3rd World countries. She created and implemented “micro financing.” George Ariyoshi was not re-appointed by Gov. Lingle to head up the EWC bd. of governors. He felt entitled, but he himself was a cronyist all the way as Governor.
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http://www.aroundhawaii.com/community/features/2011-07-no-aloha-for-micronesians-in-hawaii.html
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Contrary to KingLit Ching’s assertion, Baruch “Bento” Spinoza was Luso-Portuguese.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Portuguese#Philosophers
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Former Hawai’i County Liquor Control boss Jan Pakele was much too stolid/officious & thwarted robust revenue gain for our County. Jan was a typical bureaucrat w/no knack for encouraging revenue expansion.
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Paula Deen should do altruist projects for the American Diabetes Association. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/steviewonder/joyinsidemytears.html
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About our Declaration/Independence 1776, while our upscale Continental Congress had no plan to break away from England, Samuel Adams & his jumpy nerved cousin John topped Penn Colony’s imperial Brit defender Dickinson & kindled a firestorm chain of events a la our Middle East democratic liberators today which culminated in our liberty of July 4. After all, Paine was a primary school product w/no more formal education — such that our working class liberators trace back to English bromide/banal Diggers/Levellers a century before Philadelphia’s freedom march of 1776. Yes, Paine actually was a lifelong Englishman who had experienced the worst outfalls of our Industrial Revolution [inner ghetto poverty/rampant crime/etc.].
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Our 34% haole majority minority demographic in Hawai’i votes for Lingle over Hirono or Hanabusa for the vacant U.S. Senate seat [2 Japanese U.S. Senators from Hawai’i are out of sync/out of balance ethnically], but our overall electorate pitches for Case over Lingle as is likely the case if Hanabusa throws her hat into the ring in next year’s primary election [Japanese Hirono/Hanabusa cancel out each other in the Democratic Party Primary]. Recent polling confirms that Case beats Lingle. Case is bolstered if our U.S. Senate stays Democrat.
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Unlike a U.S. President’s clout to appeal to the public via the media in order to overcome an obstinate Congress, a Governor is stymied via an opposite political party legislature, as Lingle was vs. Bunda’s/Say’s solons. Nonetheless, Lingle’s gaffes on Turtle Bay [didn’t even collaborate w/her business community supporters] & the Superferry [EIS is judicial strict scrutiny proviso] are her miscues.
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Dan Inouye favors Mufi as our 1st Samoan U.S. Senator, formerly as our 1st Samoan Governor [Dan wasn’t bosom to Abercrombie because of Abercrombie’s histrionics/loud mouth], but Mufi heads for more secure-win House seat vacated by Hirono [& Hanabusa].
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Dick Matsuura vastly is overrated. Matsuura served in the House from 1981 to 1984 and in the
Senate from 1985 to 1996. He died of cancer in 1997 at age 64. Matsuura was an egomaniac self-promoter.
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Catholics enabled Nikkei/Japanese in America [Tulane New Orleans medical school/Creighton & St. Louis U/etc.] because of Catholic ID w/the underdog in society [Catholics did not come full circle until JFK’s 1960 win], Catholics pickback on great Imperial German Catholic medical/science tradition at the turn of the last century, Germans embracing Meiji Japan’s nascent industrialization — especially Hilo M.D.s Miyamoto/Yamanoha/etc. benefited from Tulane’s acceptance of them [WASP schools didn’t accept J*ps], just as Meiji Japan M.D.s half a century before benefited from Imperial German alms/Matthew 5-Isaiah 58 charity.
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http://www.newthrift.org/books/Generosity-Unbound-excerpt.pdf
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The emergence, assimilation, and eventual acceptance of America’s Nikkei [Japanese] by mainstream Whites and others often were fraught with tenuous/fragile/fractious challenges. Such extended drama/social stances/popular piety/philosophical & theological convictions/rich liturgy & customs all shaped both our Nikkei & Americans in general. How our Dr. Miyamotos/Yamanohas survived/thrived/resolved conflicts among themselves & with others teach us about our first nation/generation of upwardly mobile Nikkei in America.
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http://blog.raymondlearsy.com/?p=25
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America Needs a President Who Will Confront the Financial Industry’s Hegemony Over Our Lives
No one in a position of authority in our government today seems to understand fully the threat to American institutions and ideals represented by the untrammeled clout the financial industry now holds permeating the halls of government through the power of influence and money. We are barreling toward a destabilizing schism in our society where one interest group, the finance world and its allies, are running the nation to their own economic benefit, oblivious of the pain and loss being endured by their fellow citizens on the Main Streets of our towns and villages and the neighborhoods and tenements of our cities
Our president, whose objectives are certainly sincere, has surrounded himself with men whose formation and ties run deep into the culture of Wall Street — be it his Chief of Staff William Daley, formerly Midwest Chairman of JPMorgan Chase; Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Former Chair of the New York Fed, or Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and former Goldman Sachs partner — while consulting freely with Warren Buffet, that champion of and investor in Goldman Sachs. In many ways very little has changed from the previous administration when the Treasury and virtually all government agencies responsible for financial oversight were in some manner beholden to Wall Street houses and banks, and when the crunch came in September 2008 it was their “club” members who were bailed, while the rest of the country sank into a miasma of recession and unemployment. As Sheila Bair was quoted in the New York Times Magazine saying to Joe Nocera: “You know, Wall Street barely missed a beat with their bonuses. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
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Michael Lewis is Matt Taibbi’s forerunner —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Short
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Taibbi#Bibliography
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/opinion/22krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/magazine/sheila-bairs-exit-interview.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
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In “Too Big to Fail,” for instance, the behind-the-scenes account of the financial crisis by the New York Times business columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bair is described as one of Geithner’s “least favorite people in government.” As Paulson, Geithner and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, raced to bail out banks and companies like A.I.G., Bair resisted, fearing that they were being overly generous by putting the interests of bondholders over those of taxpayers. I couldn’t help recalling that the last female financial regulator to be labeled difficult was Brooksley Born, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the mid-1990s. Fearful that derivatives were becoming a threat to the financial system, Born wanted to regulate them but was stiff-armed by Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin.
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And so there we were, talking about Bear Stearns, the investment bank whose near failure marked the beginning of the crisis. Even knowing that her views of the financial crisis were at odds with many of the others who were involved, I was taken aback: I had never heard anyone involved in the crisis criticize the government’s decision to help Bear Stearns avoid certain bankruptcy.
For a moment, Bair seemed a little surprised, too, by the words that had tumbled out. She took a sip of her latte and looked straight ahead, deep in thought.
“Do you really think they should have let Bear fail?” I asked.
When she put her drink down, her hesitation was gone. “Let’s face it,” she said. “Bear Stearns was a second-tier investment bank, with — what? — around $400 billion in assets? I’m a traditionalist. Banks and bank-holding companies are in the safety net. That’s why they have deposit insurance. Investment banks take higher risks, and they are supposed to be outside the safety net. If they make enough mistakes, they are supposed to fail. So, yes, I was amazed when they saved it. I couldn’t believe it. When they told me about it, I said: ‘Guess what: Investment banks fail.’ ”
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http://blog.raymondlearsy.com/?p=11
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Why It Was Necessary To Publish “Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption”
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/126024318.html
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When President Clinton balanced the budget, bankers needed to find borrowers like Government-Sponsored Enterprises GSEs [Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac], who then borrowed some $5 trillion which ignited the real estate bubble. When GSEs came under investigation for lax lending practicies, Clinton/Fed Bd. Chair Alan Greenspan allowed our biggest banks like Goldman Sachs/Bank of America/Citigroup to take over for what GSEs did — thence mortgage brokers like Countrywide loaned money to ninja [no income, no job or asset] borrowers in the most depressed neighborhoods — these borrowers could not afford these mortgages — packaged as subprime mortgages/assets [MBS — Mortgage Backed Securities][CDOs — Collateralized Debt Obligations] aka derivatives of subprime debt bundled as prime. These worthless paper/opala were sold as false assets to other banks/pension funds/investors all over the world. With capital gains via increases in home value, everyone spent like “no tomorrow,” whilst Greenspan/Bernanke/Rob Rubin/Summers/Geithner/Paulson basked in this false sense of security. Surely enough, the real estate market began to tumble as subprime borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages. Thus began our global banking crisis ignited thru investment banks/worthless paper pushers. Europe [incl. Ireland/Greece/Spain] also crashed but for Germany’s solvency.
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Clintonesque sequel to Gary Puckett’s great tune —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUEN-KzkB2E
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Loopy Bobby Jindal —
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Patti Davis is my age peer, evolving from anti-Dad rebel to reverence for Dad Ronald Reagan, correctly so!! Kudos, dearest Patti!!
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http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2092425,00.html
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http://telltheuniverse.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/thank-you-patti-davis/
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On the ali’i greed of our 1848 Great Mahele —
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/125130074.html
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It’s in a tough time slot, where Campbell Brown, Connie Chung and Paula Zahn all found rough going before him at CNN. Spitzer’s show averaged 595,000 viewers for the first six months of the year, compared to dominant competitor Bill O’Reilly at Fox News Channel, who averaged just under 3 million viewers. MSNBC, first with Keith Olbermann and then with Lawrence O’Donnell, averaged 984,000, the Nielsen Co. said.
Spitzer’s average was actually up 8 percent over what the network had in that time slot over the first six months of 2010, but the trends were ominous. The show’s June average was 457,000 viewers, while Nancy Grace on sister network HLN had 1.5 million viewers in June with her focus on the Casey Anthony trial.
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John King’s current 7 p.m. show will move earlier an hour to 6 p.m. to make way for Burnett then. Wolf Blitzer’s two-hour “Situation Room” will air from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Piers Morgan’s show continues at 9 p.m.
CNN is shooting for a late September premiere for Burnett’s new program, which doesn’t have a name. Despite her business background at CNBC, her CNN show will be general interest, Jautz said.
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Spitzer was an excellent news gatherer who got beaten by tril [not thrill] screamer Nancy Grace’s Casey Anthony trial, not to mention retrograde O’Reilly & bellower O’Donnell. Rubbernecker Anderson Cooper a full calibre below Spitzer. John King up close to Spitzer’s calibre, but King also being downgraded, sadly for news observers. So the peak 8:00 p.m. slot will be filled by drama-rama impresario Anderson Cooper, newbie Burnett comes in at 7 p.m., King trails at 6 p.m., Blitzer opens for 2 hrs. from 4-6 p.m., & gawdy boorish Piers Morgan closes at 9 p.m.
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Spitzer’s former on-air partner Kathleen Parker a magnificent writer, though talking head Spitzer smothered her words w/his profuse noisebox antics.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-education-of-herman-cain/2011/07/22/gIQAc7TIUI_story.html
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-not-quite-true-story/2011/07/15/gIQAzpVwGI_story.html
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-defense-of-flip-floppery/2011/06/10/AGccbLPH_story.html
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cyber censorship http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/technology/web-protests-piracy-bill-and-2-key-senators-change-course.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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On the issue of global warming, it is worth mentioning that the conservatives’ anti-global warming golden boy, Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish author, professor and environmental writer, has adjusted his thinking on the matter. Although Lomborg has always maintained that cost-benefit analysis has to be part of any calculus in combating climate change, he also has said that global warming is “man-made and it is an important problem. But it is not the end of the world.” In a saner world, we would not distrust those who change their minds but rather those who never do.
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On the serious subject of presidential health, debate now centers on whether Bachmann’s headaches are, indeed, a problem for a potential commander in chief. Migraines can be debilitating, but they also can be managed. Other presidents have had afflictions that required treatment. Notably, John F. Kennedy took medicine cabinets of alleviative medications for back pain, among other problems.
But the media weren’t so attentive to every little thing in those days and now there is no detail too insignificant to be exhausted. There may be other reasons to reject Michele Bachmann as president, but being a woman with a headache isn’t one of them. Whining about high heels that nobody makes you wear, now that could be a problem.
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Hidden taxes stalk our purchases, such as Clift Tsuji’s ostensible/shibai ag inspector tax which adds to the purchase price of vegetables/fruits. Wholesalers pass on the cost to retailers. Two problems beside the added cost of purchase by the consumer — 1) Tsuji gets away w/another tax because the tax is hidden in the retail price of the item purchased at the counter; 2) these special tax funds/accounts are slush funds/rainy day accounts for purloining by lawmakers into the general fund.
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labor union official —
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Atomic man —
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Mayor Billy Kenoi born 1968 is not an ” ideas” person/visionary but a whole-cheeser who purloins Council Chair Dominic Yagong’s original ideas — 1) reclamation of property tax-forfeited lands to salvage our revenue losses & to grassroot home-grown entrepreneurs/farmers; 2) furlough work days to balance our budget as required by law/Charter; 3) continued furlough work days because of our inability to balance our budget; 4) continued downsizing of government largesse; 5) reversal of tax/spend unnecessary-nonexigent items/acquisitions. Actually, the list is interminable [specific budget appropriations for later bond authorizations][fair hiring practices, not favoritism][fair promotions practices, not favoritism][tightened procurement laws][etc.]. Mayor Kenoi pickbacks on fiscal conservative/financially responsible-prudent visionary lawmaker Yagong born 1959.
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http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/hgea-county-agree-furloughs.html
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Our Cost of Government Commission says that because the cost of living in Hawai’i County is cheaper than that of O’ahu, Hawai’i County employees could be paid less than their Honolulu counterparts.
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To do a CIP project requires two council approvals. First, the administration needs an appropriation. The CIP budget is a package of appropriations. Once the council approves an appropriation, it is good for three years.
In the case of La’aloa, the council had earlier approved an appropriation that is still valid, so there is no need to include an appropriation in the new 2012 CIP budget. We already have a valid appropriation for La’aloa on the books.
However, there is an additional council approval that is required. The council also must approve a bond authorization, or authorization by the council to go out and borrow money for CIP projects. That is the piece that was missing for La’aloa.
Mayor Kenoi in October 2010 requested a bond authorization that included $20 million for La’aloa. A CIP project cannot proceed without a bond authorization.
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Mayor Kenoi & Corp Counsel Link Ashida are stone silent about Glen Shikuma’s signs/alcohol on premises matters. So when Kenoi/Ashida eventually condemn such abuse of County facilities, why shall they also remain silent about alleged multi-million dollar graft & corruption of our taxpayers by Riley’s Kamaaina Pumping & DPW’s Nakasone? Aside: Election vote results not tainted.
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http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/county-building-misuse-alleged.html
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http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/01/colleen-schrandt-hawai%e2%80%99i-county-legislative-auditor/
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Our County legislative auditor Colleen Schrandt understandably is too scared of Stan Nakasone et al to engage in substantive progressive reform, & corp counsel Ashida certainly is no solace/comfort/friend to her, nor are Kenoi patsy Council members Ikeda/Onishi et al. Very sad state of affairs. Our Procurement Code is replete w/pukas[graft tempters] — bid jobs can be bundled up to benefit only a select few contractors/etc. [friends of politicians], just as the more common practice is to break down or unique-tify jobs to get them beneath or away from the radar of bid requirements.
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When Councilmembers Curtis Tyler and Nancy Pissichio objected to the design of the construction of Ali’i highway and said the community wanted a different design some 15 yrs. ago, the money set for construction of Ali’i highway got redirected to build the Puainako Extension highway, thanks to prescient Councilmember BJ Leithead-Todd born 1952, who is nothing more than a shill/propagandist today for her boss Mayor Kenoi. Since then, our County constructed Manawalea $10 million, Kuakini Hwy improvements $5 million , our Kona Civic Center $55 million, Waikoloa housing $40 million, plus millions into the housing being built on Hinalani, not to mention old Kona Airport projects — West Hawai’i CIP money. Operational expenses on our East side of the island go to maintenance of existing infrastructure and facilities.
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Mayor Harry Kim wanted to ensure dibs/favors later on by staying neutral when Billy Kenoi ran for mayor, Billy being Kim’s camp prodigy. Harry is for Harry, and Harry allegedly tried to get grassroot power bloc via attempted takeover of HCEOC, which Kim allegedly was thwarted from via George Yokoyama’s gang. Kim might still toss Kim’s egomaniac hat into the ring for mayor next year, which will throttle Kim’s little boy Kenoi & ensure both Kim’s/Kenoi’s losses to favprite Dominic Yagong, current County Council Chair.
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Our bldg. contractor lobby wants tight bldg. restrictions to optimize contractors’ revenue stream, but on an individual level, our contractors want lax standards to get immediate work [affordable for property owners]. Which is why our 3 Hilo councilmen [Ikeda/Onishi/Yoshimoto] voted against our tightened bldg. code. Council Chair Yagong also voted against our tightened bldg. code to see if we can stimulate our economy [in doldrums since 2008] via a more owner-friendly bldg. code.
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Hokulia on hold —
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http://westhawaiitoday.com/sections/news/local-news/hokulia-hold.html
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Greed begets greed? Or Polynesian paralysis wherein money is god David De Luz Sr. didn’t send out his kids to learn what the real world is like, then Sr. ends up disappointed – so Sr. goes out & hires Donald Trump-like Trevino, who nearly ruins Sr. Type A-hole Dot Moniz Pung & male counterpart Sr. are Tarantaran/abusive blowhards joined at the hip who nearly engaged in mutual destruction with Sr.’s ventures. http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/jury-sides-dealership.html
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Many other situations abound with coddled kids who never went out in the real world apart from small-town provincial Hilo to grow humble & compassionate. And contrary to popular opinion, Billy Kenoi’s U Mass [Billy not coddled by family, but coddled as coveted Hawaiian by guilt-ridden racist buddahead Dan Inouye] a public university a world apart from private colleges’ one on one professor to student instruction/wisdom. Keoki Kai’s UoPacific in Stockton CA. a top private school, not to be confused w/Pacific U in Oregon. Stateside kids excel because of high calibre competition/survival of the fittest. Of course, cult of the intellect not good either. But confluence of heart & head to serve others with humbleness/compassion the objective. Kids like Toby Taniguchi miss the point — so what if your dad Barry is our oyabun/godfather, though Barry high-browed unlike our Issei immigrants [Barry 3rd generation Sansei]? You still gotta learn humbleness & gratitude, kid. And yet, we have great kids who were born with the right stuff [humbleness/compassion] to be our greatest/best leaders, such as Kaloa Robinson & Crystal Rose.
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Incredulous, but P.I. military academy stand-up commanders laud martyr Andres Bonifacio for his armed struggle vs. Spanish inquisitors/subjugators, over earlier fellow martyr & reformist M.D. Jose Mercado Rizal, whom these freedom fighters dismiss as “just talk.” Of course, Aguinaldo is the sell-out who’d do anything for a dollar. For my macnuts, Rizal is my alltime hero, not just in the P.I. but in world history. Rizal’s martyrdom inspired Sun Yat Sen/Gandhi/Tagore/etc.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rizal#Criticism
Rizal condemned the uprising when Bonifacio asked for his support. Bonifacio, in turn, openly denounced him as a coward for his refusal, although he was obviously missing his mark, as Rizal had proved in numerous occasions throughout his life, such as when he challenged Wenceslao Retana or Antonio Lunato duel, to be a very brave man.
Rizal believed that an armed struggle for independence was premature and ill-conceived, as embodied by Bonifacio’s Katipunan, which Rizal knew needed a more capable general and organized military able to inflict severe damage on the enemy. Here Rizal is speaking through Father Florentino: …our liberty will (not) be secured at the sword’s point…we must secure it by making ourselves worthy of it. And when a people reaches that height God will provide a weapon, the idols will be shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards and liberty will shine out like the first dawn.
The fact that Rizal never fought in the battlefield and that he ultimately disowned Bonifacio’s Katipunan; which misled some to believe as the entire Philippine Revolution itself, points to the sometimes bitter question of his ranking as the nation’s premier hero. There are those who believe in the beatification of Bonifacio in his stead, even if Bonifacio failed to bequeath a single military victory to the Philippine Revolution. It has been argued that it is odd that the Philippines, along with India, are the only two countries with a non-military leader as its foremost national hero.
Teodoro Agoncillo opines that the Philippine national hero, unlike those of other countries, is not “the leader of its liberation forces”. He gives the opinion that Bonifacio not replace Rizal as national hero but that be honored alongside him. Renato Constantino writes Rizal is a “United States-sponsored hero” who was promoted as the greatest Filipino hero during the American colonial period of the Philippines – after Aguinaldo lost the Philippine-American War. The United States promoted Rizal, who represented peaceful political advocacy (in fact, repudiation of violent means in general) instead of more radical figures whose ideas could inspire resistance against American rule. Rizal was selected over Bonifacio who was viewed “too radical” and Apolinario Mabini who was considered “unregenerate.” Milagros Guerrero reveres Bonifacio for founding and organizing the Katipunan, “the first anticolonial revolution in Asia” and “the first Filipino national government. In his defense, the historian, Rafael Palma, contends that the revolution of Bonifacio is a consequence wrought by the writings of Rizal and that although the Bonifacio’s revolver produced an immediate outcome, the pen of Rizal generated a more lasting achievement. Rizal disowned Bonifacio’s Katipunan (and not the Philippine Revolution of 1896 per se), calling it “highly absurd.”
Despite the lack of any official declaration explicitly proclaiming them as national heroes, Rizal, along with Bonifacio, remains admired and revered for his role in Philippine history. Heroes, according to historians, should not be legislated. Their appreciation should be better left to academics. Acclamation for heroes, they felt, would be recognition enough.
Some writers have noted that, despite his Chinese ancestry, Rizal’s writings show an anti-Sinocism almost bordering on anti-Chinese racism.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andres_Bonifacio#Bonifacio_as_national_hero
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Hanoi Jane Fonda gets boot from QVC — lucky she wasn’t tried for subversion/insurrection/treason 40 yrs. ago — a real deal Andres Bonifacio she is not —
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http://www.scrippsnews.com/content/cyr-fonda-represents-whatever-moment
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The Brown Man’s Burden
by Henry Labouchère
| Pile on the brown man’s burden To gratify your greed; Go, clear away the “niggers” Who progress would impede; Be very stern, for truly ‘Tis useless to be mild With new-caught, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child.Pile on the brown man’s burden; And, if ye rouse his hate, Meet his old-fashioned reasons With Maxims up to date. With shells and dumdum bullets A hundred times made plain The brown man’s loss must ever Imply the white man’s gain.Pile on the brown man’s burden, compel him to be free; Let all your manifestoes Reek with philanthropy. And if with heathen folly He dares your will dispute, Then, in the name of freedom, Don’t hesitate to shoot.Pile on the brown man’s burden, And if his cry be sore, That surely need not irk you– Ye’ve driven slaves before. Seize on his ports and pastures, The fields his people tread; Go make from them your living, And mark them with his dead.Pile on the brown man’s burden, Nor do not deem it hard If you should earn the rancor Of those ye yearn to guard. The screaming of your Eagle Will drown the victim’s sob– Go on through fire and slaughter. There’s dollars in the job.Pile on the brown man’s burden, And through the world proclaim That ye are Freedom’s agent– There’s no more paying game! And, should your own past history Straight in your teeth be thrown, Retort that independence Is good for whites alone.Pile on the brown man’s burden, With equity have done; Weak, antiquated scruples Their squeamish course have run, And, though ’tis freedom’s banner You’re waving in the van, Reserve for home consumption The sacred “rights of man”!And if by chance ye falter, Or lag along the course, If, as the blood flows freely, Ye feel some slight remorse, Hie ye to Rudyard Kipling, Imperialism’s prop, And bid him, for your comfort, Turn on his jingo stop.The Brown Man’s Burden was first published in the London magazine, Truth, and republished in Literary Digest (Feb. 1899). |
The White Man’s Burden – by Rudyard Kipling
http://www.swans.com/main.shtml
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Chinese immigrants to Hawai’i changed the course of world history because ideas wanderlusts like Sun Yat Sen proved that democracy is the best antidote to repressive regimes. Founder of Modern China Sun Yat Sen brought back to Asia the seeds of democracy which flourish today, even in Sun Yat Sen’s China. Of course, the impact of our American expeditionary force in 1898 was the flourish of democracy in the Philippines/Malay region via Spain’s assassination of Asia’s great martyr, Philippine Spanish colonial reformer Dr. Jose Mercado Rizal, whose death spawned sovereignty/independence movements in Asia. This year marks the centennial of the American push for the Philippine Autonomy Act.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Autonomy_Act#CITEREFKramer2006
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This Christmas marks the centennial of the modern government of China founded/led by Sun Yat Sen.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen#Transformation_into_a_revolutionary
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Erudite/cogent Chou En Lai was a keen observer of America’s nearly 200 yr. “experiment” with democracy
via our greatest historymaker Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002, who formed the WWII all-Japanese American
100th Batt./442nd combat units, whose exploits triggered President Truman’s racial integration of the military
in 1948 and former Japanese internment bigot Earl Warren’s unanimous Supreme Court decision integrating
America’s public schools in 1954, not to mention Hung Wai’s WWII Texas Lost Batt. friend LBJ’s Civil Rights
Act of 1964, and Japan’s trust in American restoration of Japan autonomy post-WWII. Of course, Hung Wai’s
wanderlust seafarer impoverished Southern China immigrant dad exulted in the adventures of outpost explorers
like our American expeditionary force of 1898.
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my reply to sweetest Denise [Denise is Biblical Joseph — as close to Godliness as there is]
i feel lost on this email
what is it in reference to?
aloha,
denise
I full-on respect KingLit Ching, because KingLit is Biblical Joshua who led his Israelites after the death of his leader Moses, and not just captured monumental Jericho but also is revered among Muslims worldwide, a true leader of ALL of the world’s people! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua
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KingLit is my leader, as well as that of every freedom-loving person on earth. KingLit is salt of the earth, a man of his people, my groundstone to authenticity/realness.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Martin#As_arranger
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KingLit Ching is my hero John Lennon, Kinglit is my hero George Martin [14 yrs. older than John, 16 yrs. older than Paul McCartney].
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCjVr3yErDY&feature=related
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Western thought —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus#Panta_rhei.2C_.22everything_flows.22
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Even though one puts one’s foot in the stream, the stream [hope/love] is there, though the water passing over/under/around [a single instance/experience] one’s foot is a different mass; yet, eventually, via evaporation/cloud formation, the water again will be the same which passed by your foot [growth in a Maker’s holiness, so to speak]. So that love grows with each new experience, provided that you do not banish yourself to feel unlovable — that is, even not being loved has a positive lesson learned with your right attitude, whilst loving and being open to be loved. This is one’s growth in holiness [hope/compassion/humbleness/patience/generosity].
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_monism#Eastern_Philosophy
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Dialectical monism, also known as dualistic monism, is an ontological position that holds that reality is ultimately a unified whole, distinguishing itself from monism by asserting that this whole necessarily expresses itself in dualistic terms. For the dialectical monist, the essential unity is that of complementary polarities, which, while opposed in the realm of experience and perception, are co-substantial in a transcendent sense.
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Sage Viktor Frankl’s Will to Meaning or logotherapy panoplies Heraclitus’ dialectical monism “logo” [meaning] only as a namesake [logos is meaning].
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“Racism” invective only is pertinent in demonstrating the innocent person’s core nature — that you choose free will over subjugation to the accuser’s own insecurity [envy vs. you, the insecure accuser’s own vanity, the accuser’s own anger over the accuser’s jealousy over the accuser’s signature possessions/claims].
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Bushido/karate [kill oneself to save another] is Taoist more than Confuciust –
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism#Relations_with_other_religions_and_philosophies
Early Taoist texts reject the basic assumptions of Confucianism which relied on rituals and order, in favour of the examples of “wild” nature and individualism. Historical Taoists challenged conventional morality, while Confucians considered society debased and in need of strong ethical guidance.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110629_State_move_on_contract_novel.html
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The state’s decision to unilaterally impose a contract proposal with wage reductions for teachers is unprecedented in the islands and could prove a test case for future public employee union negotiations, local labor experts said.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/editorials/20110708_Labors_ally_becomes_its_potent_adversary.html
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Former Gov. Lingle says that “Governors bring a particularly different approach to the United States Senate. They are less ideological, they are more practical, they are more agenda-driven.”
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R.I.P. braveheart journalist Marie Colvin
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predecessor Martha Gellhorn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Gellhorn#Legacy
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http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/fight-brews-over-senate-seat.html
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110701__Math_theory_key_to_more_advances.html
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great pitch & inflection, or musical arrangement —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqe2cQ_Jd0&feature=related
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the greatest one second “run” [curl & glide notes which mimic the most sensual emotions]
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Florencia Villagra curls & glides her notes in the greatest one second “run” [trail] I’ve heard & seen. Go to middle of this You tube at 1:38 [time sequence at the bottom of the video] & catch this marvel at the end of the chorus just as she starts again at the words “oh darling.” “Oh” absolutely is the most artful & erotic slide in a second of time. Remarkable projection.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZXxa9J7qh0&feature=related
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* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkmQCp_Vqkk great jazzy/bluezy arrangement * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSlyyz8gwA&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpgsdiBcRw8
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVMyIqU_48s great swing rhythm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCypT2twc1E
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K87NOr77Tw
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Ever since our species appeared on Earth, human beings have gathered around a fire to fulfill our most fundamental need — companionship – as we reaffirm kinship/tribal bonds/recount experiences/share insights/ponder the unanswerable — who are we? Our creation stories and origin myths consume our fireside queries generation after generation. Elders have been the repository of experience/knowledge/wisdom — about our origins/purpose/destiny. David [for King David] Takayoshi [filial piety — respect for elders] Suzuki [Bellwood in English — the biggest clan in Japan] is today’s Elder. A 3rd generation Japanese Canadian born 1936 [same age as KingLit Ching], whose both sets of grandparents [ojisans/obasans] emigrated from Japan, all born at the cusp of our Meiji era in the 1860s. Of course, we now know that biomagnification — the increase in concentration of a substance such as insecticide DDT as it moves up the food chain — was discovered only after birds such as hawks/eagles disappeared, such that high levels of DDT were found in the breasts and milk of women. Economics/ecology are rooted in Grecian oikos, meaning home. Ecology is the study of home, economics its management. Eternalities supposedly unrelated to ecology mark our hubris today — it is not Christ who is crucified now, it is the tree itself — and on the buzzsaw blades of human greed and stupidity. Our suicidal morons such as ourselves, in a world choking w/immense death/destruction, would destroy the best natural air filter/conditioner creation accords us, per John Fowles. The hubris of science obliterates our sacred/profane — called reductionism — examining the individual parts of nature — yet losing all sense of the whole — the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring book in 1962 exposed the devastating effects of pesticides like DDT — brought about because of out utter reductionism/controlled experiments — which did not at all mimic the whole of nature.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Suzuki#Early_life
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_energy_path#Implementation
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene#Anthropocene_marker
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The Anthropocene began during the 1700s AD when our greenhouse gas emissions started to change the atmosphere significantly. Fossil fuel carbons swell the pool of airborne CO faster than other processes can reduce it. Geologists designated the last 2 epochs based on their climactic conditions — the Pleistocene was dominated by numerous glacial coolings, and the Holocene was the latest of several shorter interglacial warm spells, the one during which the first complex human civilizations were born. The greenhouse gas pollution of the Anthropocene will hang around long enough to cancel the next ice age, and the result is that this human-driven eopch may last an order of magnitude longer than the Holocene did. We who live in this 21st cetnury will do the most to determine its duration. Thus, the Anthropocene or this Age of Humans is the apt epochal name — this Age of Humans is the product/environmental backdrop/geological trademark of our species, per Curt Stager.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_climate_change#Current_risk
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming#Abrupt_climate_change
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_descent [carbon crisis]
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Backdropped by society’s opinion, the unsympathetic/unsavory/unpopular, the criminals/communists, the atheists/agitators, and more than one pornographer [Miller’s community standards] — all have been maligned by our U.S. Supreme Court. And yet our robed justices condone violence ergo video games/barbaric bloodlust.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/us/28scotus.html
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Half a century ago we predicted a revolution in energy w/flying cars, jet packs, domed underwater cities, & robots. What we got instead was a revolution in information. As Jim Kakalios says, implicit in the promise of jet packs & death rays are lightweight power supplies capable of storing large amounts of energy. But the ability of batteries to act as reservoirs of electrical energy is limited by the chemical and electrical properties of atoms — we can’t change the nature of atoms. But information technology requires only a medium/conduit to preserve ideas and intelligence to interpret them. Information storage also can endure for thousands of years via the semiconductors like the transistor and the diode. If energy storage increased exponentially like information storage, then a battery which could hold its charge for only a single hour in 1970 can last for more than a century today. Not so. A couple of hours at the most. Energy storage can’t change the nature of the atom. Quantum mechanics on how atoms interact with light revolutionized the field of solid-state physics ergo MRI imaging/laptop computer/cell phone/DVD/laser printer/etc.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_unified_theory#Current_status
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Current status
As of 2011, there is still no hard evidence that nature is described by a Grand Unified Theory. Moreover, since the Higgs particle has not yet been observed, the smaller electroweak unification is still pending. The discovery of neutrino oscillations indicates that the Standard Model is incomplete and has led to renewed interest toward certain GUT such as SO(10). One of the few possible experimental tests of certain GUT is proton decay and also fermion masses. There are a few more special tests for supersymmetric GUT.
The gauge coupling strengths of QCD, the weak interaction and hypercharge seem to meet at a common length scale called the GUT scale and equal approximately to 1016 GeV, which is slightly suggestive. This interesting numerical observation is called the gauge coupling unification, and it works particularly well if one assumes the existence of superpartners of the Standard Model particles. Still it is possible to achieve the same by postulating, for instance, that ordinary (non supersymmetric) SO(10) models break with an intermediate gauge scale, such as the one of Pati-Salam group.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bounce#Recent_developments_in_the_theory
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Recent developments in the Big Bounce [vs. Big Bang] theory
Martin Bojowald, an assistant professor of physics at Pennsylvania State University, published a study in July 2007 detailing work somewhat related to loop quantum gravity that claimed to mathematically solve the time before the Big Bang, which would give new weight to the oscillatory universe and Big Bounce theories.
One of the main problems with the Big Bang theory is that at the moment of the Big Bang, there is a singularity of zero volume and infinite energy. This is normally interpreted as the end of the physics as we know it; in this case, of the theory of general relativity. This is why one expects quantum effects to become important and avoid the singularity.
However, research in loop quantum cosmology purported to show that a previously existing universe collapsed, not to the point of singularity, but to a point before that where the quantum effects of gravity become so strongly repulsive that the universe rebounds back out, forming a new branch. Throughout this collapse and bounce, the evolution is unitary.
Bojowald also claims that some properties of the universe that collapsed to form ours can also be determined. Some properties of the prior universe are not determinable however due to some kind of uncertainty principle.
This work is still in its early stages and very speculative. Some extensions by further scientists have been published in Physical Review Letters.
Peter Lynds has recently put forward a new cosmology model in which time is cyclic. In his theory our Universe will eventually stop expanding and then contract. Before becoming a singularity, as one would expect from Hawking’s black hole theory, the Universe would bounce. Lynds claims that a singularity would violate the second law of thermodynamics and this stops the Universe from being bounded by singularities. The Big Crunch would be avoided with a new Big Bang. Lynds suggests the exact history of the Universe would be repeated in each cycle in an eternal recurrence. Some critics argue that while the Universe may be cyclic, the histories would all be variants.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_recurrence#Modern_cosmology
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_recurrence#Friedrich_Nietzsche
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To comprehend eternal recurrence in Nietzsche’s thought, and not merely to come to peace with it but to embrace it, requires amor fati, “love of fate”:
My formula for human greatness is amor fati: that one wants to have nothing different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely to bear the necessary, still less to conceal it–all idealism is mendaciousness before the necessary–but to love it.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amor_fati
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Amor fati is a Latin phrase loosely translating to “love of fate” or “love of one’s fate.” It is used to describe an attitude in which one sees everything that happens in one’s life, including suffering and loss, as good. Moreover, it is characterized by an acceptance of the events or situations that occur in one’s life.
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Pre-Socratic Greece had cyclic concepts — Socratic linear cosmogony [genesis of universe] manifested via later science — thence linear Christianity w/encouragement of innovation [only one shot at mortal life, so to speak]. Cyclic worldview tends toward fatalism [cyclic progress does not reward special efforts] — thence Nietzsche’s amor fati — embrace the infinity of life’s cycles for their inherent reward as growth in one’s own holiness a la Asian beliefs.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra#Cycle_of_rebirth
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra#Etymology_and_origin
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Caste system in heaven as well as on earth, thence, the pre- and contempo Hindu elite bought lock/stock/barrel the caste concept — the elite had a short cut to heaven.
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Buddha rejected the Hindu caste system & transformed the unwashed/unclean of society into an egalitarian force to be reckoned with.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads#Criticism_of_the_Upanishads
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation#Conceptual_definitions
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Philosophical and religious beliefs regarding the existence or non-existence of an unchanging ‘self‘ have a direct bearing on how reincarnation is viewed within a given tradition. The Buddha lived at a time of great philosophical creativity in India when many conceptions of the nature of life and death were proposed. Some were materialist, holding that there was no existence and that the self is annihilated upon death. Others believed in a form of cyclic existence, where a being is born, lives, dies and then is re-born, but in the context of a type of determinism or fatalism in which karma played no role. Others were “eternalists,” postulating an eternally existent self or soul comparable to that in Judaic monotheism: the ātman survives death and reincarnates as another living being, based on its karmic inheritance. This is the idea that has become dominant (with certain modifications) in modern Hinduism.
The Buddhist concept of reincarnation differs from others in that there is no eternal “soul,” “spirit” or “self” but only a “stream of consciousness” that links life with life. The actual process of change from one life to the next is called punarbhava (Sanskrit) or punabbhava (Pāli), literally “becoming again,” or more briefly bhava, “becoming,” and some English-speaking Buddhists prefer the term “rebirth” or “re-becoming” to render this term as they take “reincarnation” to imply a fixed entity that is reborn.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha#Origins
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In Indian religions, moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष mokṣa) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति), literally “release” (both from a root muc “to let loose, let go”), is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation.
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Origins
It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in India by non-Aryan people outside of the caste system whose spiritual ideas greatly influenced later Indian religious thought. Buddhism and Jainism are continuations of this tradition, and the early Upanishadic movement was influenced by it. Reincarnation was likely adopted from this religious culture by Brahmin orthodoxy. Brahmins wrote the earliest recorded scriptures containing these ideas in the early Upanishads.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana#Nirv.C4.81.E1.B9.87a_in_Buddhism
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Nirvāṇa (Sanskrit: निर्वाण; Pali: निब्बान (nibbāna); Prakrit: णिव्वाण) is a central concept in Indian religions. In Sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha. The word literally means “blowing out”— referring in the Buddhist context, to the blowing out of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion.
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The Buddha described nirvāna as the perfect peace of the state of mind that is free from craving, anger, and other afflicting states (kilesas). This peace is achieved when the existing volitional formations which have been firmly established in the course of countless incarnations (as the bases for worldly activity) are pacified and the conditions for the production of new ones eradicated. In nirvāṇa the deeply set roots of craving (Pali: tanha, raga, lobha) and aversion (Pali: dosa) – dispositions of the mind/brain apparatus considered in Buddhism the cause of human suffering (dukkha – the first noble truth according to the Buddha) – have been dissolved and uprooted. These underlying dispositions furthermore are the basis for the process of repeated incarnation so their uprooting means that one is no longer subject to further rebirth in samsāra. In the Dhammapada, the Buddha says of nirvāna that it is “the highest happiness,” an enduring, transcendental happiness qualitatively different from the limited, transitory happiness derived from impermanent things.
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Eastern religion is about release from suffering, Christianity is about release from sin, & Islam is about release from self-centeredness [obedience to Allah]. Eastern thought: End suffering, find relief or peace. Christian thought: End sin, find salvation. Islam thought: End selfish pride, find acceptance of and obedience to Allah. Eastern process: Eventual metamorphosis away from earthly misery via reincarnation/cyclical existences. Western [Christian/Islam] process: One-time shot at salvation/obedience — linearity from mortal birth to mortal death.
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Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil —
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The more abstract the truth you want to teach, the more your must seduce the senses to it.
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Martin Bojowald —
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The philosopher’s stone melts away in the Big Bounce/loop quantum cosmology — what counts as certain knowledge may, upon further examination, turn out to be in need of correction. Evaluating the results or promises of science must always takes into account its limits. Often, such limits are even more important than establishing results, for they show the way to new insights.
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Nietzsche —
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No time on earth exists [relativity of space and time — space-time transformers — Big Bounce]
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Xenophanes of Kolophon, Fragment —
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Effortlessly swings he the world, by his knowing and willing alone [general relativity — space and time unbound] .
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Mirabeau —
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Beware of asking for more time — no ill fate ever grants it [limits of space and time — the end of a theory — for space/time themselves change]
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Louis Bourdaloue —
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There is nothing more precious than time, for this is the price of eternity [time has no beginning, nor end, via Big Bounce ].
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Goethe —
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There one being, a tiny wretch, so happy smallest bite to catch. Thus one is growing patch by patch, and practices to play a grander match [our infinite and timeless Universe/Big Bounce].
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Heraclitus, “The Dark” —
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Nature tends to hide herself.
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Oscar Wilde —
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We fought with the Megadae who are born old, and grow younger and younger every year, and die when they are little children [time is a constant — there is no beginning, no end, per Big Bounce].
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Bojowald — Ganesha, one intact tusk [perfection], one broken tusk [chaos – deconstruction] — Heraclitus [merger of duality as monism personified] — or as Bojowald says, perfection/chaos, emblematic of the combination of perfection & chaos in the real world — though loop quantum cosmology/Big Bounce are not perfect, nor are they chaotic — though fearless tyrants roost, the rest are a bunch of anarchists anyway whose chaos balance out the perfection-tril [high notes] of tyrants.
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Atheist’s witty argot is that in this/our fleeting life without supernatural consequences, there will be no hell to pay. Only missed opportunities. And then you die. Query “what it’s all been for?” per proponent Jesse Bering. It’s a non-question/false riddle. “And that’s the truth — I swear to God,” per Bering. 🙂
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In the 1920s and 1930s the founders of quantum mechanics split into realist and anti-realist camps. Realists like Einstein came up with a mental picture of what objective reality is, while anti-realists like Einstein’s thorn Niels Bohr came up with a picture of chaos and contradictions. Time has shown Bohr to be right — the holographic idea of where you see the image — that is, of one’s perspective — is true — that hard evidence is empirical/experiment science — but no such “reality” contends vs. the holograph perspective — so in Bohr’s tradition, we need to dispense with the word “reality.” “Reproducible” correctly is more about the limited process of science. The multi-verse fad rests on our Tinkertoy String theory, but this is because so-called scientists don’t have the imagination to be random and chaotic, which comprise the nature of our universe or multi-verse, if you wish. As with a falling object beneath the event horizon of a Black Hole reaching the center of the Black Hole & getting destroyed at the center/Singularity. From the vantage point of an external observer, the falling object is incinerated at the event horizon. Don’t try to think of things happening inside the horizon and things happening outside the horizon. They’re redundant descriptions of the same thing — per the complementarity principle, they’re both valid — meaning that we have to give up the notion of a trickle of information being in just one place.
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Sista’s authenticity shows me ultimately “The Path.”
It’s not where you’re going that counts, it’s in the asking . In other words, if you query what is the righteous life, you now are on your way to it. 
Authenticity is not narcissism or self-centeredness.
It is a fluid transparency of self in all we do and with all whom we love. Thanks, Steve Kalas and my godsend Malie.
Thus the great paradox: When we share ourselves authentically, those with whom we share find themselves confronted with an invitation to be
themselves, too. They find their authentic story in the sharing of our own. Thus the gift of self or the gift of presence.
Sista’s greatest art is her sense of comedy/humor, the rarest of all [beside the rest of the trinity of art’s greatest gifts — 1) inner voice/strength
& 2) mystery/intrigue –of letting destiny unfold and reveal itself to you, just as you see w/Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Jack in the blockbuster movie
Titanic, opposite Kate Winslett’s character Rose, whose inner voice/strength/subconscious comprise her greatest art]. Art’s trinity of mystery/inner strength/humor lie in the mortal plane.
Undeniably, Sista’s greatest metaphysical gift, as opposed to mortal gift, is Sista’s direct link to her Lord. Apply my soulful mentor Malie’s dynamo duo bone-rattler queries, 1) “What is the higher Truth here?” [serve God by serving humanity, just as DiCaprio’s Jack embraced the lowest of
the low of society — outcasts/unwashed-unwanted]; 2) “What, if any, is the ultimate disguised blessing?” [by serving others, you encourage them to love and not fear anyone/anything]. Sista’ 1) processes and 2) integrates accordingly. Only love endures. It’s love, it’s all love [elderly lady at the
Ganges river in India who exuded “It’s love, it’s all love” to my mentor Malie].
Sista’s greatest inspiration on this earth is her inner voice, her link with God, who expresses to her 1) that life is unfair, but things balance out in the end/afterlife, so have a good attitude [like Norman Vincent Peale]; 2) do not be ashamed of who you are, because God is not ashamed of you, inasmuch we are all children of God — no one is forsaken; 3) retribution is not part of our God, inasmuch our God is not a punishing God — our God exudes Grace/Love evermore — thence, do not do the same thing to the abuser/perpetrator which wrongly was inflicted upon you by such abuser; 4) God’s Will is incredibly powerful — if you are able to, switch your alma y corazon [soul/heart] via your mechanism of your mind to be self-reliant, and as in Sista’s fullness of time, her gifts of the spirit include willing himself to stop her spiritual bleeding/foretell her own birth-life unfolding to God & her purpose to love/comfort/heal others; 5) nobody has God for you — you have a direct link to God. Sista’ viscerally feels that greed is humanity’s most auspicious sin, but after reflection, finds that over-pride takes the cake, so to speak; 6) it’s okay to be spoiled as long as you’re grateful. Sista’ feels that God’s Grace canopies us all, and Grace is unmerited/unearned, so humble/submit ourselves to God’s love for us all. Sista’ feels that nothing in her life is so unbearable so long as Sista’ submits to God, so that we are grateful for everything. Thence, Sista’ feels that anything is better, not worse, vis a vis the hand that is dealt her, so that Sista’ humbles herself and is grateful for everything. In this sense, this is Sista’s bonus life, as Malie so imparts to me.
Sista’ 1) processes 2) integrates her experiences into her point of being here/in the Moment, so to speak. Most fortunate that God has given Sista’ a positive handle on life. And again, Sista’ asks her bone-rattler dynamo duo queries, 1) What is the higher Truth? 2) what if any is the ultimate disguised blessing? Till time disappears, endure with love for all to the end.
Sista’ is steeped in wisdom & remarkable equanimity. An acolyte of both God & The Holy Bible, Sista’ describes both role Exemplars as lotus blossoms which beautify all above the muck they emerge from of our most unfortunate human condition].
Sista’s ultimate disguised blessings are 1) that abject tragedy in her life have inspired her to love fully & completely; 2) Sista’s own mortality which tempted Satan to test her faith in God — faith is not contingent on outcome — Faith, repeat, is not outcome dependent!! To Sista’, as to my mentor Malie, grace is God’s love, and we forgive as well as entreat/beseech for forgiveness from others in our helpless mortal condition.
What’s the higher truth is Sista’s time-tested resolution to mortal challenges, to make peace with herself, and to submit to God, to the very end. Sista’ is Norman Vincent Peale incarnate [power of positive thinking]. merited/unearned, so we humble/submit ourselves to God’s love for us all. Sista’s palpating line is “What do I know?!” The greatest spiritual leaders always keep check of their strengths/weaknesses via this query.
Tabula rasa [no preconceived notions] mark Sista’s openness. Sista’ 1) processes 2) integrates her experiences into her point of being here/in the Moment, so to speak. Till time disappears, for now and for always, endure with love for all to the end.
God’s glory pours through Sista’ like light through a prism/lens, showering a rainbow on everyone around dearest Sista’.
Who undyngly poured their lives into your own just because it made them smile to see you happy, thriving and victorious? Can you see their faces? Can you feel their love? Can you experience Divinity?
Recount their legacy. Right now. And be grateful.
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Beautiful Billy Vaughn’s saxophone —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0nLVbXOyzs&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwMB-7lUeIA
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Bobby Hatfield’s melodic tenor —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEshQf-tCJE&feature=related
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Ricky Nelson’s upswing elan —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu7B59zwm78&feature=related
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Aaron Neville’s gentle energy —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ni6iB3thsg&feature=related
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Felix Cavaliere’s amazing Young Rascals —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4PYZ5GwUhg&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXxXHYTw7Yw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuKeSUUK-A4&feature=related
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My daughter’s genre’s Jodi Picoult’s characters are like Sista’ — they are authentic/real.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7128.Jodi_Picoult
Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”
— Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper)
“I, um, I have this problem. I broke up with my boyfriend, you see. And I’m pretty upset about it, so I wanted to talk to my best friend. […] The thing is, they’re both you.”
— Jodi Picoult (The Pact)
“I’m lonely. Why do you think I had to learn to act so independent? I also get mad too quickly, and I hog the covers, and my second toe is longer than my big one. My hair has it’s own zip code. Plus, I get certifiably crazy when I’ve got PMS. You don’t love someone because they’re perfect. You love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.”
— Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper)
“A photo says, you were happy, and I wanted to catch that. A photo says, you were so important to me that I put down everything else to come watch.”
— Jodi Picoult
“So much of the language of love was like that: you devoured someone with your eyes, you drank in the sight of him, you swallowed him whole. Love was substance, broken down and beating through your bloodstream.”
— Jodi Picoult (Nineteen Minutes)
“If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask… with nothing beneath it?”
— Jodi Picoult
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Contempo existentialism postulates that
one must make his and her own values in an indifferent world. One can live meaningfully (free of despair and anxiety) in an unconditional commitment to something finite, and devotes that meaningful life to the commitment, despite the external vulnerability inherent to doing so. I love history. I love life. My existential definition lies right here, right at this instant.
The most beautiful and erotic [as in lovers Jack and Rose in the 1997 movie Titanic] expressions from Ms. Toni Roberts — “Just remember, your future is mine too. We are in this together.” –Toni sigh…..
And as Steven Kalas so eloquently imparts —
“Principle” and “integrity” are such seductive yet destructive notions. Be wary of self-righteous secular blowhards who cite “principle” and “integrity.” Because principle or integrity often is but a convenient disguise for overpride/ego.
I’d rather end my life saying I was too often a fool for the hope of redemption than to end my life proud of how fiercely I nurtured my indignation at those lesser than me in principle/integrity.
Jesus was a lowly grungy hippie. Does that make him less than you/me?? Will Donald Trump be remembered two thousand years from now as we worship Jesus and our Heavenly Father two thousand years after Jesus died for our sins?? Unlikely.
Grace shapes our ideas about suffering and healing. Grace shapes the way we apprehend human dilemmas and proceed in our attempts to ameliorate those dilemmas.
The unconscious is relentless in its desire to communicate authenticity and wholeness to the ego. And the ego is relentless to ignore, dodge, deny and defend itself from those communications. Freedom to live authentically consciously is the reward. Pride/principle/integrity propounded as ethical elitism are hardly useful nor merited. They
swell in the head of one’s pride/ego who excites in judging down anyone but oneself.
Let me save you some time. You are weird! But so am I! Everybody’s weird, at least in the sense that everyone who seeks depth connections eventually must connect one’s particular, idiosyncratic weirdness with somebody else’s weirdness. Connections of weirdness, in the end, are the “good stuff” of great friendships and marriages. It’s the stuff you remember long after people are dead and gone. The joy of depth connections is to meet folks whose weirdness makes you smile a bemused smile, and likewise your weirdness is endearing to them. The stuff for the ages, timeless traditions, such as Santa’s snore while Mama Claus wonders if Santa will make his rounds of joy-giving in due time.
Manifesting an “inner soul” within one’s deepest unconscious core is a cosmic attraction for discovering depth connections with others. Depth connections are a gift. A discovery. Not a decision or an achievement. They simply are inexplicably climactic.
And for the next few minutes, the hobo speaks of an aloneness and misery so stark, so complete, well, it’s not easy to behold.
His poverty — physical, psychological, spiritual — is matched by the poverty of my response.
I rather enjoy random encounters with human beings. I pay attention to these encounters. Especially when I become and am the hobo of humanity.
Some part of me is always ready for those encounters to have meaning. Maybe profound meaning. From both contradictions of the giver and the given. It comes from the way my mother raised me. From watching her. I translated a message from her that goes something like, “No one doesn’t matter.”
Then there was my maternal grandmother, an Anglo-Catholic, who wrapped that same message theologically. She was keen to remind me that I might be “entertaining angels unaware.”
The last piece I added on my own. I pay attention to otherwise random encounters not merely because I might have the opportunity even to change a life, but because I might, too, be changed by the encounter. From both sides, as giver and as given. Hitherto unexplained and unexplored.
It is a profound walk to find the courage to be here at all. To scratch and claw for the truth. Fundamentally, the truth about myself, ourselves, lovely and unlovely. For we all fall short, except to the fetid self-righteous who judge down to ascend up their delusion of prideful opulence. And have we not experienced them all, abusive and powerful!
No one doesn’t matter. You never know when you might entertain an angel, nor if you become an angel yourself.
You never know when the answer to your most pressing question will come in the form of some stranger who crosses your path. Not every random encounter has profound meaning. Not every encounter shifts the course of destiny.
But still, the next encounter might. You never know. Mindful, heartful. What do these matter? Maybe a Lot [Biblical].
Thank you, Steven –Curt
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We all fall short. Remember this. We all fall short.
Most unfortunate. Most unfortunate.
I’ve been mulling over 1 Corinthians 10:13, and Grace is the key. When Paul writes that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability, he means that we are NEVER in a situation where we have NO other choice but to sin. It’s very important to
understand that God does NOT tempt anyone. Satan does the tempting, not God. James 1:13 emphatically states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts NO one.” We grow in His Holiness, or we go in the opposite direction tempted by Satan, the convenient/easy out. Yet God allows Grace sufficient to endure and triumph over terrifying adversity. We abide by faith in Him, and trust to His Sustaining Grace. Daunting adversities endured by mortals, strengthened by the Grace of God. We have nothing to fear, especially considered are faithfulness, care, and the power of God in His Almighty grace. Grace is the key.
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On Jesus’ solid rock I stand, everything else is sinking sand, baby. Matthew 24-26
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Choose redemption [redeem oneself in love for another] over indifference, no matter the risks of failure/rejection/humiliation-derision-scorn
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I dedicate this to my daughter Staycie, who inspires me just as my Maker shows me the way, the walk in Faith. When you sense a need of another person, choose redemption [redeem yourself in service/love to such person] over indifference [incl. apprehension/uncertainty of the other person’s reaction], no matter the risk. To paraphrase Emily Dickinson, one’s mind is so near that it does not see distinctly. But one’s heart sharpens vision with life. So that it is better to risk the question, “Is my heart too much for you to bear,” than to feign indifference, or even to feel bitterness such as in failing to forgive yourself over a lost opportunity to save/rescue a lost soul. It is not about a save/rescue, but to share in blessings and love for one another. A gift is to share, the sharing being the gift itself in all respects.
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Faith is not outcome-dependent, such that Jesus does not cut a deal or bargain over your destiny. You don’t trade off with Jesus. Neither do you engage in magic/hocus pocus — Faith is not a Vegas act. It is as real as the wage of sin — death. Thy Will Be Done. One is not cursed because that person or one’s progeny are afflicted with medical issues. It just is, as Eleanor Roosevelt’s orphan phase just is. This is one’s walk in Faith, side by side with Jesus. Everlasting life beyond our own on this temporal earth. But for the Grace of God there go I. Psalm 124
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Again, remember that blessings are about obedience and faith in God, nothing to do with temporal/earthly occurrences such as earthquakes/tsunamis/hurricanes/cancer/diabetes/etc. And curses are of one’s own doing, not inherited via one’s DNA [nurture, not nature], such as overpride-vanity/envy-jealousy/greed/selfishness/anger.
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http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/steviewonder/joyinsidemytears.html
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Russia invades former USSR orbiter Georgia. Bush tells Putin cheek to cheek at the Beijing Olympics that Georgia’s Saakashvili is hot-blooded, and that Putin should accept this. Putin fires back to Bush, “I’m hot-blooded too!” Bush stares back at Putin, “No, you’re cold-blooded.” Putin & Bush never really moved past the Cold War. Just as Egypt’s Mubarek cracked down on dissidents in 2006, as did Venezuela’s Chavez/Nicaragua/Bolivia/Equador/Belarus/Burma/Cuba/Sudan. On the other hand, Georgia/Ukraine/Kosovo/Colombia/India/Indonesia/Brazil/Chile turned toward democracy. A fundamental problem in the Middle East is the lack of freedom in the Palestinian territories. With no sovereignty, Palestine lacks its rightful place in the world. With no voice in their future, extremists move forward. With no legitimately elected Palestinian leaders to fight terrorism, Israel has no reliable partner for peace. The solution is a democratic Palestinian first nation, led by legitimately elected officials who reject terror and pursue peace with Israel.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/science/08fukuyama.html
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Red China has bought up much oil reserves incl. Canadian/Australian, & Iran is Red China’s major oil supplier. Red China in effect has bought Taiwan. In the next 30 yrs., the combined GDP [gross domestic product — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product] of the emerging seven nations of Brazil/Red China/India/Indonesia/Mexico/Turkey/Russia will far surpass the G7 of U.S./UK/Japan/Germany/Italy/Canada/France. Especially Red China holds so much U.S. currency & debt, & controls much of the natural resources which the U.S. requires, that the U.S. is beholden to Red China, not the other way around. Three phases of emerging market investments [incl. foreign sovereign wealth funds — SWF — /gov’t cabals — the so-called shadow market] over the past 3 decades consist of 1) 1980s to 1990s — cheap manufactured exports ergo Red China’s Asian Tigers along w/those of Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand/S. Korea/Taiwan [Thailand’s GDP was the fastest-growing] — overinvestment flooded Asia w/capital, which resulted in a bubble which burst by 1999; 2) 2000-2009 investments in commodities/raw materials as the demand spiked for agriculture/energy/infrastructure materials — the biggest beneficiaries were the oil producers of the Mideast and backward nations like Brazil which have plentiful resources & miniscule indebtedness; 3) today’s third phase is on domestic demand for products as in China/India/Brazil w/large populations w/strong consumer demographics-cultures, unlike Russia’s sole petroleum product w/an aging-weak consumer base. China’s negative/minus is an aging population, India’s negative/minus is its small tax base which thwarts national investments in the economy. Shadow market nations are racing to improve their food-security risks by buying large swaths of farmland in other nations, & risking starvation of other nations’ local residents/population. Saudi Arabia has a farm the size of Connecticut in Indonesia, and Korean Daewoo Inc. controls half the arable land in Madagascar. The shadow market cabals/gov’t capitalists are on their way to control over $20 trillion in assets, a sum greater than the gross domestic product of the U.S.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-sufficiency
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_index_(economics)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_GDP
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund#Concerns_about_SWFs
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Concerns about SWFs
There are several reasons why the growth of sovereign wealth funds is attracting close attention.
- As this asset pool continues to expand in size and importance, so does its potential impact on various asset markets.
- Some countries worry that foreign investment by SWFs raises national security concerns because the purpose of the investment might be to secure control of strategically important industries for political rather than financial gain. These concerns have led the EU to reconsider whether to allow its members to use “golden shares” to block certain foreign acquisitions. This strategy has largely been excluded as a viable option by the EU, for fear it would give rise to a resurgence in international protectionism. In the U.S., these concerns are addressed by the Exon–Florio Amendment to the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, Pub. L. No. 100-418, § 5021, 102 Stat. 1107, 1426 (codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. app. § 2170 (2000)), as administered by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
- Their inadequate transparency is a concern for investors and regulators. For example, size and source of funds, investment goals, internal checks and balances, disclosure of relationships and holdings in private equity funds. Many of these concerns have been addressed by the IMF and its Santiago Principles, which set out common standards regarding transparency, independence and governance.
- SWFs are not nearly as homogeneous as central banks or public pension funds. However they do have a number of interesting and unique characteristics in common. These make them a distinct and potentially valuable tool for achieving certain public policy and macroeconomic goals.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oljefondet
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Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global ergo Petroleum Fund/Oljefondet & its leader Yngve Slyngstad are the good guys who do the right thing [transparency/shareholder rights/board accountability/child labor/water management/climate change] per Santiago Principles over sovereign wealth funds/investment practices which are fair/encourage free flow of trade/ESG — environmental-social-corporate governance issues a la Warren Beatty’s-Julie Christie’s movie “Heaven Can Wait” over 3 decades ago. When Norway’s Petroleum Fund sold its $6 million stake in Israel’s Elbit Systems which supplies surveillance equipment for the barrier separating the West Bank from the rest of Israel, to express Norway’s disapproval of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, Norway used the power of its capital [Norway’s $437 billion sovereign wealth fund is the 2nd largest sovereign wealth fund — SWF — in the world after the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority — Norway’s fund owns 1% of all shares of stock available for sale on the planet] to make a responsible political statement, albeit wading into complex geopolitical disputes.
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http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues/issues30/index.htm
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market#Currency
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agorism#Views_on_capitalism
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http://www.asecu.gr/Seeje/issue06/katsios.pdf the shadow economy and corruption in Greece
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Russia’s shadow economy 16% of GDP
http://en.rian.ru/business/20110401/163321504.html
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dimensions of the shadow economy
http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_05_1_schneider.pdf
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_financial_system#Perspectives
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Perspectives
There are three primary approaches to viewing and understanding the global financial system.
The liberal view holds that the exchange of currencies should be determined not by state institutions but instead individual players at a market level. This view has been labelled as the Washington Consensus. This view is challenged by a social democratic front which advocates the tempering of market mechanisms, and instituting economic safeguards in an attempt to ensure financial stability and redistribution. Examples include slowing down the rate of financial transactions, or enforcing regulations on the behaviour of private firms. Outside of this contention of authority and the individual, neoMarxists are highly critical of the modern financial system in that it promotes inequality between state players, particularly holding the view that the political North abuse the financial system to exercise control of developing countries’ economies.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20#Norwegian_perspective
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Norwegian perspective
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called the G-20 “one of the greatest setbacks since World War II.” Although Norway is the largest contributor to development programs in the World Bank and United Nations, it is not a member of the E.U. and thus not represented in the G-20 even indirectly. Norway, like the other 170 nations not among the G-20, has little or no voice within the group. Støre characterized the G-20 as a “self-appointment group”, arguing that it undermines the legitimacy of organizations set up in the aftermath of World War II, organizations like the IMF, World Bank and United Nations:
| “ | The G-20 is a self-appointed group. Its composition is determined by the major countries and powers. It may be more representative than the G-7 or the G-8, in which only the richest countries are represented, but it is still arbitrary. We no longer live in the 19th century, a time when the major powers met and redrew the map of the world. No one needs a new Congress of Vienna. |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_governance#Governance_of_the_economy_and_of_globalization
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Governance of the economy and of globalization
The 2008 financial crisis exploded, once again, the myth that the all-powerful free-market forces will correct all serious financial malfunctioning on their own, as well as belief in the presumed independence of the economy. Lacking in transparency and far from democratic, international financial institutions have proven incapable of handling the market’s critical breakdown.
Free-market economy is incapable of meeting the population’s needs on its own. Without regulation and without consideration of social and environmental externalities, free-market capitalism turns into an uncontrollable machine that produces more and more wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, leading the global community into a head-on collision with disaster and chaos. Its capacity to produce is not in doubt: the problem is absence of redistribution, which is the result of absence of political and citizen will to change the rules of the game.
Nonetheless, the debate on the failings of the system has begun to turn in the academic world into solution seeking, which is a step in the right direction. According to Tubiana and Severino, “refocusing the doctrine of international cooperation on the concept of public goods offers the possibility . . . of breaking the deadlock in international negotiations on development, with the perception of shared interests breathing new life into an international solidarity that is running out of steam.”
Stiglitz, on his part, argues that a number of global public goods should be produced and supplied to the populations, but they are not, and a number of global externalities should be taken into consideration, but they are not. On the other hand, he contends, the international stage is often used to find solutions to completely unrelated problems under the protection of opacity and secrecy, which would be impossible in a national democratic framework.
On the subject of international trade, Susan George states that “. . . in a rational world, it would be possible to construct a trading system serving the needs of people in both North and South. . . . Under such a system, crushing third world debt and the devastating structural adjustment policies applied by the World Bank and the IMF would have been unthinkable, although the system would not have abolished capitalism.”
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Polisci pundits Jacob S. Hacker/Paul Pierson say that our Capitol Hill/White House spineless leaders’ winner take all politics made the rich richer, & turned their backs on our Middle Class/Silent Majority/Mainstream America — not foreign trade/global finance — during Jimmy Carter’s era de-regulation undid the fair distribution of economic rewards — along w/tax cuts for the wealthiest — which continued under Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush Jr., & now Obama. 25 yrs. before FDR described political equality as “meaningless in the face of economic inequality,” FDR’s cousin Teddy Roosevelt pronounced that “the supreme political task of our day is to drive out the special interests from our public life.” For all the contradictions of progressive talk by Clinton/Obama, reformers of a century ago shared the convictions held by our Founders of democracy nearly 240 yrs. ago that democracy was the rule of many, not the all-powerful elite/fortunate few on Wall St.
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private equity [Romney’s example] is not venture capitalism [typecast as job creation] —
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http://baselinescenario.com/2012/02/02/private-equity-and-job-creation/
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http://baselinescenario.com/2012/01/27/what-is-private-equity/
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_oil
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_crisis#World_population_and_agricultural_crisis
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World population and agricultural crisis
The 20th century saw a rapid increase in human population due to medical developments and massive increase in agricultural productivity made by the Green Revolution. Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by 250%. The Green Revolution in agriculture helped food production to keep pace with worldwide population growth or actually enabled population growth. The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation. David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, and Mario Giampietro, senior researcher at the National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), place in their study Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy the maximum U.S. population for a sustainable economy at 200 million. To achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster, the United States must reduce its population by at least one-third, and world population will have to be reduced by two-thirds, says the study.
The authors of this study believe that the mentioned agricultural crisis will only begin to impact us after 2020, and will not become critical until 2050. Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer claims that coming decades could see spiraling food prices without relief and massive starvation on a global level such as never experienced before.
Wheat is humanity’s 3rd most produced cereal. Extant fungal infections such as Ug99 (a kind of stem rust) can cause 100% crop losses in most modern varieties. Little or no treatment is possible and infection spreads on the wind. Should the world’s large grain producing areas become infected then there would be a crisis in wheat availability leading to price spikes and shortages in other food stuffs.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_crisis#Other_scenarios
Other scenarios
- Peak oil: Fossil fuels attain a level of scarcity before an economically viable replacement is devised, leading firstly to economic strain, followed by the collapse of modern agriculture, then to mass starvation.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_food#Alternatives
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Alternatives
There is hope however from the “think globally, eat locally” movement. The 100-mile diet, where people obtain their food from within a 100-mile radius of their homes, makes good sense for most of the world. The whole fabric of the food production system needs to change, or hunger and malnutrition will only get much worse.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_global_warming
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_global_warming
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorcher:_The_Dirty_Politics_of_Climate_Change
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Geography is a life and death matter for us all. Jared Diamond says that Laurence C. Smith is a rising star among geographers, w/Smith’s template of 4 forces shaping civilization’s “northern” future — demography/natural resources/climate change/globalization — 8 nations of the arctic rim incl. U.S. will prosper while the equator nations will be sapped & sunk. Food for thought.
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http://spatialworlds.blogspot.com/2011/04/entwining-history-and-geography.html
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Geographical determinism?
Considering that the Australian Curriculum: history has already been published and that the Australian Curriculum: geography is soon to follow, I thought it would be useful to do some discussion and resourcing on the connections between history and geography. In particular, to look at the potential of integration for the two disciplines as a result of the close interconnections and interdependencies of the disciplines – such connections have become even more evident than ever with the emergence of spatial technology for historical research and hopefully for its application in education.
“…Geography is not just a physical stage for the historical drama, not just a set of facts about areas of the earth. It is a special way of looking at the world. Geography, like history, is an age-old and essential strategy for thinking about large and complex matters” Meinig 1987
In our world of simplistic divisions of knowledge there is always the danger that we see disciplines as quite separate and not connected. History and geography in schools need to be seen as entwined and interdependent. As a history and geography teacher such a synergy is logical and obvious. Whatever history I was teaching I would start with a geography lesson of the region studied or impacted upon (much to the disquiet of the students who thought they were doing history!).
“…geography and history are complementary and interdependent, “bound together by the very nature of things.”
This relationship, Meinig states, “…is implied by such common terms as space and time, area and era, places and events, pairs that are fundamentally inseparable. In practice the two fields are differentiated by the proportionate emphasis each gives to these terms.” Meinig 1987
This connection and interdependency of history and geography is particularly relevant as we move towards the development of disciplines in the Australian Curriculum. Curriculum separatism can be detrimental to the development of a student’s holistic understanding of an historical individual, group, event or phenomena. When implementing the Australian Curriculum in a crowded curriculum, such perception of connections between the disciplines is imperative when designing an integrated approach to the study of a region, theme or topic (particularly in primary schools).
An example of the impact of geography on history was highlighted in the 1940’s when geographical determinists looked at the rise and fall of the Roman Empire from 400-500. Much of the fall of the empire had to do with a regional drought which decreased the fertility of the land and agriculture output. The lack of food from this event strained the empire and exacerbated the political situation to the point of collapse. The entwinement of Roman geography and history was emphasised by historians when they pronounced that geographic location impacted on Roman civilization because where they were located made it easy for travel and trade. The story goes that Rome was located on the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the Tiber River, making it easy for them to get all around the European area; they were located on a place with fertile soil, which made it easy for farming and they were surrounded by mountains, which provided them with places to hide, and have protection.
From this beginning the theory of geographical determinism grew to encompass all environmental and geographic conditions and their impact on the social, political and economic forces of a society. It was believed that technology was the only way to mitigate risks associated with geographic determinism. In short, Geographical Determinism is the theory that the human habits, behaviour and characteristics of a particular culture are shaped by geographic conditions. The phrase was coined in the early 1900’s and in its extreme expression the theory asserts that the work of humans is controlled or “determined” by geographical conditions: climate, landforms, and the like. The debate on the veracity of the theory of Geographical determinism continued throughout the twentieth century. A more moderate view of Geographical determinism called Geographical possibilism (suggests that humans have a number of possibilities from which to select)has surfaced in recent years. This theory suggests that humans have a number of possibilities from which to select. I feel that the truth is to be found between the two theories.
Geographical determinism was picked up by the Russian Marxists in the 1920’s, where environment and its influence on the development of society was a dominant theme in Soviet geography. Interestingly the attempts by Russian geographers to develop a balanced assessment of the relationship between man and the physical environment were negated in the 1930′s by a dogmatic pronouncement by Stalin which denied any environmental influence on the development of society. However, since the end of World War II a group of Russian geographers have attempted to reintroduce the theme of the geographical environment as an object of study for geography. The arguments of this group were strengthened by a pronouncement by the Communist Party in 1963, which rejected Stalin’s earlier ruling and recognised that the geographical environment, although not a determining factor, does exercise a certain influence on the development of society.
Today Russian historians quite logically claim that the geography of Russia has been the major determinant of Russian history. For example
“Its location on a high northern latitude and far inland gave it a cold and dry climate. That, combined with large areas of poor or mediocre soils, made it a cold dry steppe in which it is difficult to survive, let alone prosper. Famine has affected Russia on an average of one year out of three throughout its history. Russia lies on the vast Eurasian Steppe with no formidable natural barriers, which has invited a number of invasions with tragic results. In its early history, the main threat would come from the nomadic tribes to the east, making Russia a battleground between nomads and farmers. Only more recently have Russia’s neighbors to the west been a serious threat, as seen by the loss of an estimated 27,000,000 people in World War II. Ironically, Russia’s harsh climate has saved it from invasion more than once. Napoleon and Hitler both found out the power of “General Winter” when they made the mistake of trying to conquer this vast northern giant. Russia’s inland location to the north and east of Europe has left it largely isolated from the mainstream of developments in Europe. Altogether, Russia’s geographic features have made it a harsh land facing constant invasions. As a result, Russians have historically been torn between needing and wanting foreign ideas with which they could better compete and survive on the one hand and a suspicion of foreigners bred by the continual threat of invasions they have faced on the other.”
This is a wonderful example of geographies impact on history but by no means unique. How could one study Australian history without recognising the impact of geography on our settlement, governance, national character, military involvement etc. As Blainey in his book Tyranny of Distance said way back in 1970:
“…geographical remoteness has been central to shaping our history and identity–and it will continue to form our future.”
Professor Iain Stewart in his series: The Earth Made Us repeatedly used examples of geographical determinism to explain the creation, life and death of civilisations i.e. Those along plate boundaries which were attracted to the locations due to the presence of water at plate boundaries, were also inevitably wiped out when the plates “did their thing”.
The concept that geography determines culture and in turn history goes all the way back to Hippocrates (c. 420 B.C) when in his discussion; “Airs, Waters and Places”, he contrasts the “easy-going Asiatics living in a very favourable region with the poor Europeans”, who had to work hard because of a deficit environment. Aristotle also played in this space in his Politics when he talked about the “brave but deficient in thinking Europeans from colder climates” contrasted with the “thoughtful and skillful Asians” without spirit because of their hot climate. He said that the Greeks being a blend of the two environments had the best of both worlds! Very dangerous generalisations which did much to discredit geographical determinism. Such deterministic views were often quoted by the racists of the 18th-20th Century to explain through environmental impacts a whole range of racial stereotypes and generalisations. Such associations did much to discredit the theories of geographical determinism in the 20th century.
However one would be foolhardy to totally deny that environment and in turn geography of a place does determine the nature of culture and in turn the unfolding of human history.
“…history has a spatial dimension–the places where human actions occur. For example, aspects of the natural environment, such as climate and terrain, influence human behavior; and people affect the places they inhabit. Therefore, main ideas of geography, such as the location of places and relationships within places should be included as important parts of the study of history” Framework for the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) US history assessment.
The 2004 book: Historical GIS suggested the equation Place + Space + Time = historical understanding. This equation can also be written as X+Y+Z = historical understanding. Both are saying that there is a need for an understanding of place (X-Y coordinates) in cahoots with an understanding of change over time (Z factor) when teaching any historical topic, event or phenomena.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_determinism#Climatic
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_anthropology
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Anthropology#Transformations
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_geography
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_geography
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_geography#20th_century
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A “blind trust” as in Mitt Romney’s case is NOT really blind.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/mitt-romney-divestment-pledge_n_1249118.html
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Romney has kept many of his investments in a trust he describes as blind since he entered the Massachusetts governor’s race in 2002. The trust is designed to eliminate conflicts of interest by preventing Romney from knowing about trades made on his behalf and from making specific financial decisions. A Boston attorney who runs the trust oversees Romney’s far-flung holdings in stocks, mutual funds and securities.
Romney can set the general direction of his finances, Cooke and other tax experts said. Romney made that clear in August 2007, as he tried to quell a growing furor about his ownership of some stocks that clashed with Republican positions on Iran, China and other issues.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_trust
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A blind trust is a trust in which the fiduciaries, namely the trustees or those who have been given power of attorney, have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling. Blind trusts are generally used when a settlor (sometimes called a trustor or donor) wishes to keep the beneficiary unaware of the specific assets in the trust, such as to avoid conflict of interest between the beneficiary and the investments. Politicians or others in sensitive positions often place their personal assets (including investment income) into blind trusts, to avoid public scrutiny and accusations of conflicts of interest when they direct government funds to the private sector.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_Conservancy#Criticism
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Criticism
Over the years, The Nature Conservancy has faced a number of criticisms. They fall into the following main categories:
Too close to business
Some environmentalists consider industrial development to be antagonistic to environmentalism, and disapprove of The Nature Conservancy’s policy of permitting oil drilling, timbering, mining, and natural gas drilling on land donated to the Conservancy.
Questionable resale
There have been allegations of The Nature Conservancy obtaining land and reselling it at a profit, sometimes to supporters, who have then made use of it in ways not perceived by many as being sufficiently environmentally friendly. The rationale for the resale has been that the profit allows The Nature Conservancy to increase its preservation of what the Nature Conservancy claims are more important locations. However, the Conservancy does have a no-net-profit policy that has been in effect for years for all transactions of this type.
Animal rights
The Nature Conservancy has also been criticized, like many large environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the World Wildlife Fund for using hunting in its management policies. Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, the Commander of coalition forces during the First Gulf War, was a member of the President’s Conservation Counsel of the Conservancy, is also a member of the trophy hunting organization the Safari Club.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trust_for_Public_Land#Statistics
Since 1972, TPL has completed more than 3,900 land conservation projects in 46 states protecting more than 2.8 million acres (8000 km²).
Since 1996, TPL has helped states and communities craft and pass more than 350 ballot measures generating over $25 billion in new conservation-related funding.
In the 2007-2008 fiscal year, TPL helped to plan and construct 15 parks and playgrounds.
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Grecian scientific accomplishments bedrock on the Greek belief in an ordered universe whose rules can be discovered by the human mind, and a compulsion to see and understand — ergo insatiable curiosity — humanist freedom to think. The names we give to science’s diverse branches today, from physics and chemistry to mathematics, biology, & psychology — are the Greek etymologies. Grecian geography is harsh & fractured, yet the Grecian inward cogency gave rise to scientific thought unlike earlier civilizations in Egypt/Mesopotamia/India/China. Grecian exceptional characteristics incl. rationalism — the conviction that human reason could unravel the mysteries of nature & make sense of the cosmos – humanism’s pride and confidence in human potential — an insatiable curiosity that sought understanding of both human nature & the world — a fierce love of freedom & individual will which promoted freedom of thought, the prelude to science today. The Greek zest for living was driven by a compulsion to excel. Knowing they could not exist for all time, they determined to achieve a different kind of immortality by performing deeds that would ensure their undying legacy. Thence Achilles died young on the battlefield of Troy and lives on today in our hearts and minds. Insatiable curiosity suffused in art’s drama — the quest to understand the motivations for and the consequences of human behavior/miscues-hamartia. Grecian history means research, just as Grecian democracy is the basis for science today — that all facts, no matter how trivial or banal, enjoy democratic equality. Freedom of thought & individual pursuit — without unfettered imagination, science could not exist. And without heroic individuality, breaching the status quo/convention could not be achieved. Certititude pride of repressive thought ergo religious persecution contravenes self-confidence in being a wanderlust-wayfarer. The tipping point is sliver-thin, yet each side is separated by a gulf in thought/act so vast that neither side is compatible at all with the other.
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The Roman poet Virgil perfected his craft by emulating Grecian Homer. In Virgil’s Aeneid, the ghost of Aeneas’ father, Anchises, tells his son — & thru him the generations of Romans who would follow — not to be overwhelmed by a sense of inferiority when comparing himself to the Greeks. Virgil intones that a civilization can only succeed by identifying and actualizing those cultural traits which are uniquely its own. As brilliant pundit Stephen Bertman evokes, Greeks are a race of explorers like Odysseus, whereas Romans are a race of nation builders, Grecians driven by boundless curiosity, Romans by a need to control and fulfill their global destiny. Repelled by theory & abstraction, the Roman mind gravitated instead toward concreteness & practicality. Roman Cicero recounted Grecian science and mathematics like Archimedes.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneid
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Jim Hillman — “I watched a woman being interviewed. She sat in a wheelchair because she was elderly & feeble. She said that she was dead for she had lost her heart. The psychiatrist asked her to place her hand over her breast to feel her heart beating: It must be there if she could feel its beat. ‘That,’ she said, ‘is not my real heart.’”
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Ben Mikaelsen – “You don’t become a better chairmaker. The chair becomes better.” Zen anyone? Yikes! How about plain old-fashioned obedience to Christ [humbleness]?? Oooooooooohhhhh [pronounced as in ‘you …….’]. Peace.
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Chuck Bowden — “I am certain there can be no comprehension of the present without the past, just as I am certain the past is not the past. And there can be no comprehension of the present without all the tribes, human, animal, floral, and stones, river, and dry wash, at the table taking part in the talk.” Wow!!
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Aistheses — Grecian to breathe in — inspiration, a deliverance, per Stephen Buhner. Bill Gass – “it is the journey to the truth which convinces the traveler that he/she has arrived. To be dropped on the top of Mt. Everest by helicopter is not to gain the glory of the peak.” As Emerson was Thoreau’s master, so does our so-called subconscious juxtapose meaning with reality – or as, Friedrich Schiller put it — “the intellect has withdrawn its watchers from the gates, and the ideas rush in pell-mell, and only then does [the mystery of the metaphysical] review & inspect the multitude.” Or, as Michale Quane intones, “[shift] like from gas to liquid — a conversion of untetherable thought into footprint evidence of its being.” As Buhner says of Goethe. the urpflanze/archetype in the imaginal world. Poesis — shaping the imaginal into form.
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As Guy Deutscher says, it’s too easy to exaggerate the importance of logical reasoning in our lives. The myth of analytic thinking overcomes us. How many daily decisions do we make on the basis of abstract deductive reasoning, compared w/those guided by gut feeling, intuition, emotions, etc.? How often do you spend your day solving logical conundra, vs. wondering where you left your socks, or where your car is in the multi-level parking structure?? How many ads appeal to our senses via logical syllogisms, vs. those that play on colors, moods, allusions??? It’s common for linguists to claim discovery to a universal of human language — after sampling English/Italian/Hungarian — & seeing that they all agree. Yet, the only languages which truly reveal what is natural & universal are the hosts of small tribal tongues that do things very differently from what we are used to. Thence our race against time/exigent urge to record as many of these languages as possible before all knowledge of them is lost forever and forsaken to the dustbin of time.
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When FDR had difficulty w/Congress, he did radio fireside chats. President Obama can do the same via social media/etc.
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Non-combat fatalities [traffic accidents/etc.] now to be recognized via personal letter from President Obama are a stretch, as if the President of the United States didn’t have more pressing/national security things to do.
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Hawaiian volcanology “hot spot” matter which was disputed. Jack Lockwood’s reaction to the hot spot story –
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Re: hot spot not entirely the whole story of formation of Hawaiian Islands?
What’s your take on the “hot rocks” being 800 miles away from our traditional hot spot? Thanks, –Curt
John P. Lockwood, Ph.D. Consulting Geologist P.O. Box 479, Volcano, Hawaii 96785
Tel: 1-808-967-8579; Fax: 1-808-967-8579
E-mail: jplockwood@volcanologist.com
Website: www.volcanologist.com
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110605__Study_shifts_theory_of_isles_creation.html
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/s?action=login&f=y
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http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/community/focus-long-term-volcano-view.html
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Robert Reich says that a pendulum underlies the American political economy. We swing from eras in which the benefits of economic growth are concentrated in fewer hands to those in which gains are more broadly shared, and then back again. We are approaching the end of one such cycle and the start of the next. The Great Prosperity of 1947 to 1975 was followed by three decades of retrenchment, ending in the Great Recession and Fall of Wall St. in September 2008. The question is whether the pendulum swings back w/reforms which widen the circle of prosperity, or with demagoguery which turns America away from the rest of the world, shrinks the economy, and sets Americans against one another. Reich bets on resilience/common sense/optimism for the common lot. We cannot thrive in a nation divided b/n a small number of people receiving an ever larger share of the nation’s income & wealth, and everyone else receiving a declining share. The lopsidedness not only diminishes economic growth but teats apart our people. The most fortunate among us depend on a stable economic/political system. Such stability rests on the public’s trust that our system operates in the interest of all of us. Reform is the only sensible option we have, per Reich.
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MY OTHER BLOGS:
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http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/author/curtis-narimatsu/
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http://curtisnarimatsu.blogwonks.com/
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http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/category/dispatches-from-curt/ [its editor banned me for defending victimized Keoki Kai against the editor’s star chamber impunity-endowed defamatory-laced scribe, and for my supporting also banned Peter Frost’s crucible that editorial outcome-controlled expression/thought are not free will][more recently, its editor removed a whole thread on ex-scribe — at that time — Kevin Dayton’s erroneous assertion that GASB-45 won’t hurt our County’s pocketbook — even though this thread had nearly a hundred comments, some correctly critical of Kevin’s failure even to make a cursory call to the GASB-45 project manager/administrator — protect the editor’s journalist cronies, no matter the public’s right to know!] [too bad, because the editor is like my hanai daughter, but the editor needs to stop coddling the editor’s crony journalist colleagues, esp. half-baked ones like those who posted on the editor’s website]
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Musical great & singular rocker Prince —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mOUY9rBEmM&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveOaBvSgdY&feature=related
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Unquestionably, rocker Prince is the greatest contempo shin mover [knees down to the toes] dancer I’ve seen, second to alltime indomitable Astaire, & Astaire’s overall body fluidity also is tops. Michael Jackson is an expert in sleight of hand/misdirection, so to speak, not in the same calibre as Prince or Astaire. James Brown is the greatest footstepper [simply moving the feet]. Prince also a great guitar picker/ player.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjBj0-KoT2Q
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Hawai’i author James Michener was unable to purchase a Kahala home because Michener’s wife was Japanese [Stateside kotonk]. This infuriated Michener, & it shows in his magnum opus novel on Hawai’i, where he rails against our haole oligarchy. It also showed in Michener’s politics, where Michener was the spiritual accoutrement to Jack Burns. Michener’s kotonk wife’s one single sin — being born a Jap!
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Simon Wiesenthal said that when he was a prisoner at the Janowska concentration camp in Lvov Ukraine, he was in a group of inmates who were ordered to dig a deep ditch. “We knew that soon the ditch would be full of bodies. The victims were being marched up to it — women and girls. Then I caught the desperate eye of one of the girls. ‘Don’t forget us — ever!’ is what that look said to me.” He was determined to say to her and all Holocaust victims, “I didn’t forget you,” upon meeting them in Heaven. These 4 words became his personal creed — “I didn’t forget you.”
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The $8 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India [TAPI] pipeline would carry gas from eastern Turkmenistan thru Afghanistan east of Herat and down Taliban-controlled Nimruz and Helmand provinces, down Balochistan in Pakistan and then to the Pakistani port of Gwandar in the Arabian Sea. Thence our military-industrial complex obsession w/stabilizing Afghanistan. The alternative pipeline is a minus for us Americans — the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline [IPI] from Iran’s South Pars gas field thru Baluchistan into Pakistan. The best way to curb terrorism is to deciminalize drug use in the West & establish government control over opiate distribution — buy the existing opium in Afghanistan & supplant it w/saffron. Problem is that drug prohibition undergirds the copious global laundering of terrorism — the astronomical profits generated by drugs source lavishly in the drugs’/commodities’ illegality. Our CIA is addicted to drug traffickers who bankroll terrorists. Drugs sustain jihadi salafism more surely than jihaki salafism sustains drugs. As Dick Holbrooke said before he died 7 months ago, breaking the narco-state in Afghanistan is essential, or all else we do there will fail. With a tremor of sanctity, Holbrooke spoke Truth.
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http://public.shns.com/content/cyr-helicopter-crash-latest-afghan-frustration
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Fontanne & Lunt brought great joy to our hearts in the last century —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Fontanne#Career
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lunt#Career
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Public opinion polls show that agnostics & atheists are the groups which Americans trust the least — even though so-called nonbelievers conduct themselves more authentically sincerely than do religious/pious ones. The emotional and intellectual struggles behind the “unbelievers” engage others in grappling with doubt as a kind of metaphysical experience, or as an act of faith, albeit secular, itself!! A soulful adventure!!
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Do you believe in life after death? Yes, I believe in life after death. My life. –support group statement
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Loss in love [getting dumped by your loved one] is the death of possibilities, of what could’ve been bliss, of dreams shattered, to use the cliche. Such death transitions me from what is to what will be, from who I am to who I will be, a blend of sort, so to speak.
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Great religious figures invoke the most important precepts, especially amid our trials & tribulations. As tremendous observer Steven Kalas born 1957 chastens, we bear with suffering by finding meaning in it, as we turn suffering into transformative good in the world.
We don’t aim at forgetting. Yet, when the power of forgiveness is asked for and given, the delightful paradox is that then we often do forget, just as Jesus intones. Ephesians 4:32/Romans 3:23/Hebrews 8:12.
The story of Job, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Jacob wrestling with God (Genesis), the Book of Lamentations and the Wailing Wall — all codify doubt as part and parcel of the journey of faith.
And, in the Christian story, the disciple Thomas is showcased as the walking, talking icon of doubt. And, when finally confronted by Jesus, Thomas is not criticized for his doubt. Jesus in no way is personally offended by Thomas’ doubt. Instead, Thomas is invited to see, think and experience for himself: “Put your hands in my wounds…”
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/what-hurts-most-may-bring-people-closest-together-134200018.html
Ethos entail a moral economy balanced by duty towards those who lack means or who cannot perform such good. Ethos also entail if necessary taking the blame for something in order to solve an issue or save someone else. These are Christ’s examples of the right intent/heart, per Romans 12:1.
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*Psalm 22:14-15 — * Christ was ground in body and spirit. In this case, He was bruised so badly He was barely recognizable as a man [Isaiah 52:14] and was so sapped of strength.The lesson for us is that service to our fellow living beings is self-surrender and self-sacrifice. The nearer our service approaches His degree of self-sacrificing service, the more we shall be closer to God. The Atonement is that Jesus died for our sins. That we live thanks to Jesus.
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Winston Churchill’s stunning defeat as prime minister at the end of WWII —
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-leaming/churchills-lesson-for-oba_b_779735.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Later_life_of_Winston_Churchill#After_World_War_II
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Churchill did not anticipate the common Brit’s desire for a better standard of living [nationalized health care/improved wages/etc.]. Of course, Russia’s A-bomb got Churchill vindicated in 1951 by Churchill’s win over Socialist Attlee, who defeated Churchill in 1945. Attlee’s nationalized industries/etc. removed the incentive to better the common Brit’s standard of living. Churchill’s many strokes/aneurysms forced him to retire in 1955. Churchill’s mission to ensure our Free World vs. the Iron Curtain [after the fall of Hitler] made him a recurring world leader a la 1951’s victory as Prime Minister. Such was his Phoenix out of the ashes persona — a young photographer told Churchill on his 75th birthday, “I hope to take your photo on your 100th birthday.” To which Churchill chortled, “I don’t see why not, young man. You look reasonably fit & healthy!!” 😉 Churchill lived to be 90 yrs. old. And he drank whisky & soda in the morning simply to “moisten” his throat. Of course, had FDR/Truman/Ike listened to Churchill 1933-1955, the Free World would have quashed Hitler & Stalin before their conquests of sheer madness/insanity.
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Author Leaming says that at the 1953 posh coronation of today’s Queen Elizabeth, w/all dressed to the tee, Churchill emerges from the bathroom & confronts his longtime political foe Aneurin Bevan, ever underdressed for the occasion [business suit][Bevan often mocked Churchill on Churchill’s fondness for full regalia uniforms]. Churchill stares frostily at Bevan & chastens, “You might have taken the trouble to dress correctly on this occasion at least.” Beven looks Churchill up then down, & cries out, “Winston, your flies are undone!” To which Churchill does not skip a beat in retorting, “Do not concern yourself too much about that — dead birds never fly from their nest.” 😉
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Rock Hudson/Sidney Poitier acted in Robert Ruark’s book’s movie “Something of Value” 1957 about a white settler & his African boyhood friend. When direc tor Richard Brooks couted Kenya for locations anthropologist Louis Leakey took Brooks to imprisoned nationalist Jomo Kenyatta, who told them what Churchill said in 1907, that unless Europeans could get along with Africans, the Europeans would have to leave Africa. Churchill provided the film’s prologue — “the problems of East Africa are the problems of the world.” But Churchill’s prologue went badly w/test audiences. Author Toye quotes Brooks, “MGM execs said ‘get rid of this fucking Englishman!’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?? Winston Churchill?? The greatest statesman in the world??’ Their reply — ‘Whoever the fuck he is!! Out, out, of the picture!!'” And so the greatest living figure of English-speaking countries ended up on the cutting room floor. Movie “priming” is insiduous/agenda-setting — resulting in a viewership of emotional zombies.
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typical & crude male chauvinism — Churchill & an irate lady MP —
Mr. Churchill, you are drunk.
Madam, you are ugly.
Mr. Churchill, you are extremely drunk!
And you, Madam, are extremely ugly. But tomorrow, I shall be sober, and you ….?
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We could use Albert Gallatin, America’s Swiss founding father, so to speak. Gallatin is the longest-serving Secretary of the Treasury 1801-1814, serving under Presidents Thomas Jefferson & James Madison. Thru his paying down the public debt, we were able to finance the Louisiana Purchase thru a bond issuance. This doubled the size of our young nation. Gallatin’s fiscal conservatism/administrative acumen met the challenge of the War of 1812, which sorely tested public finances.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Gallatin#Budget
Budget
The national debt was seen as an indicator of waste and corruption, and Jeffersonians wanted it paid off totally. They also wanted to buy Louisiana and fight a war with Britain, and Gallatin managed to finance these grand objectives, but he could not simultaneously pay off the debt. The debt stood at $80 million in 1801, and Gallatin devoted 3/4 of federal revenues to reducing it. Despite spending $15 million on Louisiana, and losing the tax on whiskey when it was repealed in 1802, Gallatin trimmed the debt to $45 million. The government saved money by mothballing the Navy and keeping the Army small and poorly equipped. Gallatin reluctantly supported Jefferson’s embargo of 1807-1808, which tried to use economic coercion to change British policies, and failed to do so. The War of 1812 (1812–1815) proved expensive, and the debt soared to $123 million, even with burdensome new taxes.
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http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html
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Q. Why nothing on Molly Pitcher?
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A. Because we don’t really know that there ever was a Molly Pitcher.
I’m inclined to agree with historians like Dr. Linda Grant DePauw, President of The Minerva Center, who says in part:
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“Molly Pitcher is the name of a legendary figure of the American Revolution. She is associated with the Battle of Monmouth and since 1876 has been identified with a woman veteran of the war, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, who lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As part of the centennary events of that year, an unmarked grave believed to be hers was opened and the remains were reburied with honors under a plaque delaring her to have been the real embodiment of the famous Molly Pitcher.
The central theme of the Molly Pitcher story is of a woman whose husband was wounded or killed while serving at an artillery piece at the Battle of Monmouth. She took his place to the admiration of the other soldiers who admired her courage and devotion to her husband. The story has seemingly endless variations, often including a cameo appearance by George Washington who gives her either a gold coin — in one version a whole hatful of gold coins — or a promotion to sergeant or captain. Some books even provide elaborate dialogue said to have passed between the camp woman and the commander in chief. In many of these, she speaks with an Irish brogue, but sometimes she is represented as German.
Often students doing school projects on “Molly Pitcher” ask for details about her place of birth or childhood experiences and education. There are no historical sources that can provide such information about a legendary character.
The real woman, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley was awarded a pension by the State of Pennsylvania in1822 “for services rendered” during the war — this was more than the usual widow’s pension which was awarded to soldiers’ wives who marched with the army. So one assumes she did something special. But when she died there was no mention of a cannon or the Battle of Monmouth in her obituary. Historical sources do confirm that at least two women fought in the Battle of Monmouth — one was at an artillery position and the other was in the infantry line. There is no evidence linking either of them to McCauley.”
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Tremendous samurai pundit Denise Takashima born 1953 is 1960s Diana Rigg incarnate.
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From gorgeous indomitable Denise —
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Aloha Curtis,
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How’s it?
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Haven’t heard from you lately.
I’m reading an interesting book (one of three at same time) and
thought of you…
Musashi’s Book of Five Rings.
Have you read it?
Take care.
aloha,
denise
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my response to magnanimous Denise —
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Konichiwa, Denise! KingLit’s emails to you were bounced by your firewall. You’re Musashi incarnate [economy of movement/misdirection/counter-thrust/etc.]. You’re my alltime hero [vision — ensure pristine mother nature for future generations/conservationism a la Musashi][groundedness — total humbleness a la Musashi][empathy — I never forgot how you came to Ah Chew Goo’s defense vs. today’s clueless sports jock celebrities like Larry Price — no matter the outcome, your empathy showed us the way/method — lead by example, not mouthiness]. Love always, your biggest fan [I witnessed your valor/heart re: Ah Chew Goo][I witnessed your sonkei mukashi no — filial piety — re: Uncle Willy Thompson’s 442 boys at the Elks Club] — Curt
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Five_Rings
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The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin No Sho?) is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa 1645. It is considered a classic treatise on military strategy, much like Sun Tzu‘s The Art of War. There have been various translations made over the years, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than only that of martial artists: for instance, some business leaders find its discussion of conflict and taking the advantage to be relevant to their work. The modern-day Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū employs it as a manual of technique and philosophy.
Musashi establishes a “no-nonsense” theme throughout the text. For instance, he repeatedly remarks that technical flourishes are excessive, and contrasts worrying about such things with the principle that all technique is simply a method of cutting down one’s opponent. He also continually makes the point that the understandings expressed in the book are important for combat on any scale, whether a one-on-one duel or a massive battle. Descriptions of principles are often followed by admonitions to “investigate this thoroughly” through practice rather than trying to learn them by merely reading.
Miyamoto Musashi in his prime, wielding two bokken.
Musashi describes and advocates a two-sword style (nitōjutsu): that is, wielding both katana and wakizashi, contrary to the more traditional method of wielding the katana two-handed. However, he only explicitly describes wielding two swords in a section on fighting against many adversaries. The stories of his many duels rarely reference Musashi himself wielding two swords, although, since they are mostly oral traditions, their details may be rather inaccurate. Some suggest that Musashi’s meaning was not so much wielding two swords “simultaneously”, but rather acquiring the proficiency to (singly) wield either sword in either hand as the need arose.
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Hi Denise: The “rebound” effect catapulted Hitler to power, ergo Imperial Germany’s apocalyptic defeat in WWI, followed by an immense economic depression [there was no “Marshall Plan” to rescue the post-WWI impotent Weimar Republic] which catalyzed a totalitarian/xenophobic Nazi regime hell-bent on ousting contrived “enemies of the state” such as Jews. –Curt
denise
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Let’s dance!! In tribute to inspirational Denise, and for Bert Mukai on his 55th birthday July 26, and in tribute on the 55th anniversary of Elvis’ Hound Dog in 1956 — here we go —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QQzbCmlZM4&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK1DBx_hf0E&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knU8ao4uSSI&feature=related
[greatest version of “Try a Little Tenderness!”]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJQnZ0Bu7Zo&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Bwv4fSYN0
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Denise challenges the imagination of ideas previously found only in science fiction and with the implications of these ideas for how we can understand the world around us. The earlier concepts of space and time as completely distinct/separate in relativity theory now are unified in one joint notion of space-time. So the same might be true of information and reality, tenable in quantum physics. Irony is that while quantum physics freed us from what classic physics constrained, we find we are embedded into the world more so than what was the case back then, limited by our own imagination.
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from magnanimous person of immense equanimity Denise 8/10/11 —
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Aloha Curtis Loved all of it! The movie Lilo and Stich was a great movie for Hawaii and the children of Kamehameha Schools. If you've seen the movie, the character Lilo (Hawaiian girl) is a major Elvis fan. In that movie, the best scene was "heartbreak hotel". And movies with Dwayne Johnson, and disney, also seems to have him singing a lot of Elvis. Elvis is one of those icons, that no matter who you speak with, they know and enjoy Elvis. And funny that you should use Chris Brown appearances in your You Tube bookmarks! But I really understand King Lit and his wise words. And yes, he's a very compassionate man. Very sensitive. I stand firm in my belief, that like you, a daddy of a daughter (or daughters) is a changed man. I can always tell if a man has a daughter. Coach Vince Goo, Coach Dave Shoji, King Lit, Barrack.....curtis narimatsu.... Music is so good for the soul and for the many moods we humans feel. thanks, again, made my day! with aloha, denise
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If you thought roughrider President Roosevelt a century ago was “the man,” [hero personified] you never knew his real deal unflinchingly courageous son Teddy Jr., to me the alltime hero which Jr.’s dad never ever dreamed dad could be.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt,_Jr#D-Day
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General Barton approved this letter with much misgiving, stating that he did not expect Roosevelt to return alive.
Roosevelt would be the only general on D-Day to land by sea with the first wave of troops. He was one of the first soldiers, along with Capt. Leonard T. Schroeder Jr., off his landing craft as he led the U.S. 4th Infantry Division‘s 8th Infantry Regiment and 70th Tank Battalion landing at Utah Beach. Roosevelt was soon informed that the landing craft had drifted more than a mile south of their objective, and the first wave was a mile off course. Walking with the aid of a cane and carrying a pistol, he personally made a reconnaissance of the area immediately to the rear of the beach to locate the causeways that were to be used for the advance inland. He then returned to the point of landing and contacted the commanders of the two battalions, Lt. Cols. Conrad C. Simmons and Carlton O. MacNeely, and coordinated the attack on the enemy positions confronting them. Roosevelt’s famous words in these circumstances were, “We’ll start the war from right here!” These impromptu plans worked with complete success and little confusion. With artillery landing close by, each follow-on regiment was personally welcomed on the beach by a cool, calm, and collected Roosevelt, who inspired all with humor and confidence, reciting poetry and telling anecdotes of his father to steady the nerves of his men. Ted pointed almost every regiment to its changed objective. Sometimes he worked under fire as a self-appointed traffic cop, untangling traffic jams of trucks and tanks all struggling to get inland and off the beach.
With his division’s original plan modified on the beach, the division was able to achieve its mission objectives by simply coming ashore and attacking north behind the beach toward its original objective. Years later, General Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat, and he replied, “Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach.” Originally recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross by General Barton, the award was upgraded at higher headquarters to the Medal of Honor which Roosevelt was posthumously awarded on 28 September 1944.
Roosevelt’s actions on D-Day are portrayed in The Longest Day, a 1962 film in which he was played by actor Henry Fonda. The movie is based on the book of the same name, published in 1959 by Cornelius Ryan.
Death
Throughout World War II, Roosevelt suffered from health problems. He had arthritis, mostly from old World War I injuries, and walked with a cane. He also had heart trouble. On 12 July 1944, one month after the landing at Utah Beach, he died of a heart attack in France. He was fifty six years of age. He is buried at the American cemetery in Normandy next to his brother, Lt. Quentin Roosevelt. (Quentin had been killed in France during World War I and buried at Chamery, but was exhumed and moved to the Normandy Cemetery.) When Ted Roosevelt died, he had already been selected by General Dwight D. Eisenhower for promotion to Major General and orders had been cut placing him in command of the 90th Infantry Division.
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And if you thought roughrider dad Teddy Roosevelt Sr. was one tough hombre, you never heard of John Paul Jones [misnomer “I have not yet begun to fight!”] —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones#Bonhomme_Richard
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Right wing reactionary vs. enlightened grassrooter — Henry Ford’s capitalist exemplar vs. our first national labor leader William H. Sylvis —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Labor_Union
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Chicago socialite Nina van Zandt’s love for hanged Haymarket labor leader martyr August Spies was a “Spinal Tap” a la Warren Beatty’s-Julie Christie’s romantic movie “Heaven Can Wait,” as was Elizabeth Gurley Flynn’s love for pugnacious “anarchist Carlo Tresca.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Spies#Marriage
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Tresca
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gurley_Flynn#Later_years_and_legacy
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Helen Violet Bonham Carter an enlightened noblewoman —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_Bonham_Carter
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The most vicious/ruthless men became posthumous philanthropists —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_charitable_foundations
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/opinion/20dowd.html?ref=maureendowd
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Gonzo journalism, even from the Left —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McGinniss#The_Rogue:_Searching_for_the_Real_Sarah_Palin
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/editorials/20111113_Faith_in_Hawaii.html?id=133734613
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Faith in Hawaii
A new survey provides a glimpse of religion in Hawaii — what the church offers and how it’s perceived
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 13, 2011
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Churches deal with matters of faith, not an area that lends itself to measurements. But perceptions of the church from those on the receiving end of the religious outreach, that’s another story. That can be measured, though it’s rarely done in any comprehensive way in Hawaii.
“There are a lot of thoughts on how Christianity is doing, and how the state feels about the church, but we really didn’t know for sure,” Dan Chun said, making a recent presentation to a gathering of Hawaii pastors and church faithful.
Chun, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, also is president of Hawaiian Islands Ministries, a nonprofit Christian ministry that supports Hawaii church leadership through training programs and conferences. The organization commissioned a $60,000 survey, performed by The Barna Group, a national research company that specializes in such religious polling but also has the Disney Channel, ABC-TV, Visa and military entities on its client list.
Now that the research is done — bound into a 104-page paperback the ministries has for sale to recoup some of its expenses — Chun hopes the guidance will inform churches what they’re doing right and where things may be slipping through the cracks.
Many points of interest to the general public, complimentary to churches and otherwise, are in the report, including:
» Values: Whether or not they’re religious, the Hawaii respondents to the survey overwhelmingly ranked “family” first among their concerns, with “health” listed not far behind.
» Social service: Among nonmembers as well as regular parishioners, Hawaii residents seem aware of the various works churches do in the community, everything from preschools to addictions counseling.
» Perceptions: A small majority, 55 percent, give the church “very favorable” ratings, significantly below the 71 percent in that category in mainland averages.
» Practice: Only about one-third, 34 percent, say they attend church weekly, compared to 52 percent on the mainland as a whole. But 76 percent of the Hawaii worshippers say they prayed in the past week (20-minute phone interviews of 1,008 residents were conducted in February).
» Denominational loyalty: 34 percent said they’re Protestant, 24 say Catholic.
» Orthodoxy: Hawaii’s churchgoers and believers in general tend to be a little less “entrenched,” according to the study’s conclusions. Fewer following the orthodox practices of their mainland counterparts. For example, only 45 percent say they belong to a church, higher than the national norm, and there’s less emphasis on Bible study here.
That kind of observation surprised some of those who have heard the presentation, including Edward Hill, commander of The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division.
“I had the impression that people of Hawaii were more spiritual, more Christian, that the church was growing in Hawaii ahead of the mainland,” Hill said. “And many may not meet the standard criteria of an evangelical Christian.”
What produced this looser interpretation of Christian practice is open to debate, but Chun highlighted some ideas about that. One is its culture of tolerance that arises from its demographics. In addition to ethnic variations, there is a diversity of faiths: About 14 percent reported being members of non-Christian religions, a segment that represents closer to 4 percent on the mainland.
But Chun and the other pastors are not taking the data about those missing from the pews as simple discouragement, because the survey drilled down to yield a few answers about why people are staying away.
People who are not attending services, or who more broadly are nonbelievers, are called the “unchurched” in this survey and many others like it. About 45 percent of people in this group have never been to church, Chun said, a segment that could include Buddhists or others whose spiritual practices are more individual than communal.
But some of the questions also sectioned off a subset called the “de-churched,” which, compared to the mainland, is a large group. These are people who once went to worship services but who now — using common parlance among lapsed Catholics and others — have “fallen away.” Understanding why they left regular worship, Chun said, provides hints about ways to reach them, in one way or another.
“The church let them down in some way, was impractical or irrelevant,” he said. “So if we’re going to try and reach those people, they have in a sense an inoculation, some ‘antibodies’ against the church.”
The specific perceptions are a mixed bag of criticism and compliments, Chun said. While 62 percent said the church is “judgmental,” 61 percent “hypocritical,” 52 percent “too involved in politics,” and 49 percent “anti-homosexual,” the positives characterizations of the church included “caring” (75 percent), “good principles” (69 percent) and “trustworthy” (56 percent).
Almost a quarter of the de-churched are going to be tough customers, saying they don’t attend now, “and they’re just not interested in ever attending.
“And 24 percent really say, ‘It’s my only day off; I am NOT going to church,'” he added with a wry laugh.
The survey also identified that about 35 percent of the unchurched would be drawn to seminars about family and community.
“Remember, that was a high value, family, 92 percent,” Chun said. “If we all want to reach the community, we’ve got to think of family seminars, maybe how to do parenting better, how to do marriage better. I mean, this is a huge cue from the unchurched.”
When it comes to Hawaii’s religious belief systems, 73 percent define themselves as Christians, including Catholics, Chun said, but it helps to understand what people mean when by “Christian.” Largely, they don’t mean they’re evangelicals as defined in the report, even if many call themselves “born-again Christians” nonetheless. Barna listed the evangelical belief statements.
“If you say faith is very important in your life, you have responsibility to share your faith; that the Bible is accurate; that Satan exists; that there is eternal salvation in grace, not because of your efforts; that Jesus lived a sinless life, not just another man like us; and we keep an orthodox view of God, then that’s what an evangelical is,” Chun said. “And maybe many of you are saying, ‘Yeah, that should be the basic, that should be the foundation of what a Christian is,’ but we’re going to see that’s not what the Hawaii population thinks a Christian is.” Only 4 percent of those surveyed said they hold all these beliefs, half the percentage on the mainland.
Then there are the “notional Christians,” who ascribe to none of the listed points but still say they’re Christian: They’re 43 percent, according to the survey. On that score, Hawaii matches mainland trends.
“And then the agnostics, it’s higher here than on the mainland,” he added. “We have 11 percent agnostic or atheist, and the mainland is 7 percent.”
In addition to polling the flock, Barna researchers also conducted a separate survey of 161 Christian pastors on their view from the pulpit. “High cost of living” also was seen as a heavy burden for the churches — notable especially when paired with figures showing that Hawaii pastors were paid less, on the whole, than national averages.
But the biggest takeaway Chun cited was the 83 percent who said “the multicultural ethnic diversity, making sure you’re reaching everybody with different styles and different approaches is a very, very big challenge.”
Rojo Herrera, pastor of New Hope Leeward, agreed with that, although he added that it’s not always so challenging. He recalled an encounter with a former classmate from the mainland who remarked on the range of people at the services.
“So she starts explaining to me how it’s become more and more polarized,” Herrera said. “If there’s a way to carve out, they carve out.”
It does take time to acclimate, he said, but it’s often an attribute, too.
“I think it’s one of our great strengths,” Herrera added.”
Others were willing to take some hints from the results as they returned to their ministry. Even if people don’t come to worship, Hill said, there are other ways to reach out. And down the road: Who knows?
“There are human needs that church is ideally placed to fill,” Hill said. “Family, health, use of my time, having friends … any church that meets those needs has an opportunity to grow.”
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from indomitable sage KingLit Ching born 1936, son of our greatest destiny-maker, Rev. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 —
Ari,
I don’t like Thomas Friedman. I like Larry Derfner’s approach. I completely disagree with Friedman’s statement that Obama has made a mess of Israeli-Palestinian relations alienating all sides and making zero progress – unimaginative and politically wimpy. The Israeli-Palestinian relationship has sat for over 60 years stalemated without any meaningful progress. The issues are highly political with the right wing American conservatives caving in to the Jewish Lobby and refusing to recognize the key issue involved – the civil rights of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. The biggest joke and tragedy are Israeli President Netanyahu who flaunts his Jewish lobby clout in front of the American public by publicly insulting President Obama. Read Derfner’s analysis of Netanyahu. Netanyahu and his conservative alliance including Zionist lulus like Lieberman will receive their come-uppance when a more liberal party such as Kadema assumes a majority coalition position.
Most of Friedman’s evaluations and proposals are current mainstream thinking. He accurately states the dilemmas that face Obama. However, there is NO TRAIN WRECK faced in September but merely nature taking its course if the UN recognizes an independent Palestinian state. As a Jew, Friedman is highly biased. Obama is the gutsy innovator. All Jews mistrust Obama because he is the first US president to recognize the democratic aspirations of the common man in the Middle East. Obama has publicly acknowledged the “Arab Spring” which makes Jews go crazy including Friedman.
Friedman states what is obvious; most seek a 2 state solution. The UN is already prepared to recognize the Palestinians while Obama is doing his best to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to negotiate a settlement PRIOR to the UN convening in September. Obama is a “pragmatist” in recognizing the importance of two parties negotiating their own peace treaty and not having it imposed on them from the outside. Larry Derfner makes the point that Israel is surrounded by Arab-Muslim countries with whom they have peace treaties that have worked. Why not have a treaty with the Israeli Arabs/Palestinians in a 2 state agreement?
Sorry for not getting back to you earlier but I have been working on my furniture projects and have one new “cause” which is to have the Japanese American National Museum here in Los Angeles commemorate the brave and iconic exploits of the 100th/442nd in the museum instead of having it being only a MASSIVE INTERNMENT CAMP which kotonks feel was a legitimate reason NOT to volunteer to serve in combat with the 100th/442nd Buddahheads (local boys) and win 22 Medals of Honor and 6 Presidential Unit Citations. I expect the museum to reduce the internment camp exhibits and install 100th/442nd exhibits. I have identified the key trustees who can influence the change. Regards, King Lit
From: KingLit Ching
Subject: NYTimes.com: What to Do With Lemons
Ari,
Thanks for remembering me. The guys down stairs delivered a card, and made gift and breakfast earlier this morning. Traci has been living with me so she gave me a funny card yesterday. Eleanor Davidorf is throwing a Father’s Day bash which I declined since I do not travel well.
I will read Friedman’s article carefully and respond later. I am still following that situation closely and have some pretty strong opinions. I am also making a public issue about the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) here in Los Angles NOT giving Hawaii AJAs – specifically the heroic deeds of the 100th/442nd – recognition and devoting over 90% of the museum to exhibits of the internment camps. These Kotonks have no shame whining about civil rights violations and refusing to volunteer in the 100th/442nd while the Buddahheads shed blood in combat to prove their loyalty and patriotism. Regards, King Lit
Hi King Lit:
Hope all is well.
Tom Friedman has interesting thoughts on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Link below to article in today’s New York Times.
Ari
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Former Israeli diplomat sees waning image
| From: | KL Ching |
| Sent: | Mon 8/08/11 6:59 AM |
| To: | Larry Derfner |
Larry, Gabriela Shalev's views seem to be very close to yours. How influential is she in Israel and will she ever run for office? Do you know the Los Angeles Times reporter Edmund Sanders? KL -------------------- Former Israeli diplomat sees waning image -------------------- As Palestinian leaders plan a bid to win statehood recognition from the U.N., former Israeli envoy Gabriela Shalev frets that Israel has not succeeded in bringing its story to the rest of the globe. By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times August 8 2011 Reporting from Jerusalem -- When Gabriela Shalev arrived at the United Nations in 2008 as Israel's first female ambassador, she was determined to launch a diplomatic offensive to improve her country's international standing. The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-shalev-qa-2011080 8,0,2358239.story Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com
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This is a very objective, concise and complete summary of the Israeli – Palestinian situation. As you know, I have been in close contact with Larry Derfner, a key columnist with the “Jerusalem Post”, a major left central newspaper in Israel known for its liberal progressive views. Conservatives in Israel control the Knesset (Parliament) and the Israeli president, Bibi Netanyahu, is a conservative. Israeli conservatives oppose equal rights for Israeli Arabs and Muslims.
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http://israelleft.com/2011/08/05/good-for-the-jews-good-for-the-palestinians/
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Jewish Arab Peace Song [KL Ching to Larry Derfner]
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Larry,
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Carlo Beraha is a Sephardic Italian Jew who lives in Milano and visits Israel twice a year. After the Spanish Inquisition, Carlo’s family fled to Egypt and then to Turkey before settling in Italy. Carlo has relatives in Central Asia in cities such as Bukara.
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I was pleasantly surprised by Carlo’s positive reaction to the Jewish Arab Peace Song “hoping for the best.” What does “inchAlla” mean? Who is this Baremboim with an Israeli/Palestinian Orchestra? More Peace songs? I am encouraged that Jews such as Carlo are hoping for a peaceful co existence between Israeli Jews and Arabs and I assume that there are many more Jews worldwide with views similar to Carlo’s . After watching the Jewish Arab Peace Song many times, I am smitten by the good looks of the Arab and Yemeni Jewish looking Israeli woman. I once met a Sabra woman who was very interesting but possessed a toughness and independence not as attractive to me when compared to Asian born (not American born) women’s nuanced demeanors.
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One of my closest personal friends in the U.S. is Lee Eisen of the Hoboken, NJ furniture Eisens. The Eisens are Ashkenazy who migrated to the U.S. in the 1920s and founded a furniture manufacturing company that at one time dominated the U.S. furniture industry with factories in every major region of the U.S. Lee met and got to know and admired my late father, Hung Wai Ching, and Lee has always contended that HW reminded him of his father Meyer. Meyer was the first Eisen to migrate from Germany to the U.S. as a youth sleeping on factory kitchen floors where he was a baker during the day. Meyer started sending for his family one by one until all had migrated to the U.S. It is a wonderful heartwarming American success story. I have worked together with Lee in 3 separate companies since 1976 so we go back a long way and I knew his deceased wife and know his current companion and his son quite well. I even lived with Lee for a while when I moved to North Carolina to take a job in the furniture industry. I sense that American Jews are less tolerant of Israeli Arabs than other Jews who spend time living in Israel. Regards, KL
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From: carlo
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011
To: kl ching
Subject: Re: Jewish Arab Peace Song
Hi Kl, thank you .It reminds me Baremboim and his Israeli/Palestinian Orchestra. Very nice, let us hope for the best..InchAllà!!
Carlo Beraha
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Oggetto: Jewish Arab Peace Song
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Carlo,
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How did you like the Jewish – Arab Peace song that I sent to you? Do you like it? Does it have an important message? Regards, KL
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Kaua’i PD thug mentality is a carryover from scion Charley Rice’s former stranglehold over essential services from a century ago, just as Hawai’i County PD was dysfunctional because of sheriff Henry Martin’s rule nearly a century ago. http://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/2010/08/pnn-county-secretly-settles-hirakawa.html
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http://www.amazon.com/KPD-Blue-Political-Corruption-Department/dp/1439203466
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Energetic Faith Hill –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPAzXZLQUmg&feature=related
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Fine wine Shania Twain –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCK12BYrAkk&feature=related
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Irascible Boy George –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-1wEWMMtso&feature=related
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Kim Wilde, you seal the deal, baby –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0XuyUzpTQ&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9uLIDMJUKw&feature=related
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Cher with Heartbreak Hotel –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-MD8KOy-wc
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the irrepressible Freddie Mercury –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ&feature=related
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try a little tenderness, okay?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg5Paw5fScQ&feature=related
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and when you do, you can celebrate –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7n_DWxJTwQ&feature=related
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George Baker selection’s little green bag [dedicated to auspicious deejay DC & asst. Kathy at FM 97.1 & my jam maker gorgeous sexy female acquaintance from Paradise Park] –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L1hD5OlPtw
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Moe Keale cover “Aloha is” –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_oyHGQym8M
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Sweet Springsteen on being 16 yrs. old –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtA_88vNeF0&feature=related
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my alltime bluezzey rockers — ZZ Top, baby!! –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6R-yD2RgDU&feature=related
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Oh boy, Carl Perkins
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQSmUe4H0-U&feature=related
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In tribute to the incomparable Janis Joplin [featured with Tom Jones] –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ib2b4BOZIQ
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In praise of unsung belting betsy Ann Wilson of Heart –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCDwTe0vJTk&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JhlC5OLXUo
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& Ann’s inexplicable instigator Led Zeppelin’s Lemon Song –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VH6k9OcjEk
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tHHRpAzGcM
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Led Zeppelin’s & heavy metal’s Black Sabbath’s progenitor and rock supergroup Cream [Eric Clapton/drummer Ginger Baker/bass player Jack Bruce] –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKfxVONxR0k
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And I present our LA rendition, Canned Heat –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GPzXUROj0U
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPDKmPjIDQo&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-lkUJfHSQ&feature=fvsr
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Lennon’s surreal flow — Across the Universe [Lennon 1940-1980 started our British Invasion, transitioning in 1956 from folk skiffle to rock n roll a la Elvis — contrary to popular opinion, Elvis’ hip gyrations were Elvis’ own, not copied from African American performers — & Muhammad Ali’s hyperspeed shuffle reduxed our greatest modern dancer Astaire]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc5Pkbf2IkE
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AnVTc5v3aI
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUhdr6AqY3Q
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Sheryl Crow born 1962 is my favorite versatile vocalist
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1RkOlaqCqw
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kum4O_fh0_E
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI04jgEwAC8
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Johnny Depp’s flourish [omit the gun scene, a gross out blip]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeyAeigqgHU&playnext=1&list=PLFFF1D36B0B0CA0FC
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Music is my whole life, and I dedicate these happy links to my Dad Toshi 1913-1998, who was born to sing & play his ubiquitous Martin ‘ukulele, and who sang & played in the mango tree astride my grandparents’ Wainaku mill camp home as a young boy. Even into Dad’s final years, Dad would sing among our backyard pals, Dad’s Martin ‘ukulele always in his arms. My daughter Staycie age 39 is half Hawaiian, & my dearest little baby girl Staycie has instilled in her children the spirit of the islands — aloha — welcome/accomodation/tenderness/humbleness/kindness/generosity — her children Maya age 1/Emily age 5/Silas & Ashley both age 9/Shay age 20. Beautiful aloha. My keiki all.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D-SgA_NJwk
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f29uA3gwhbc
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****** * * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBqtJCzHezQ
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****** * * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob40jeoXKHA&feature=related * * *
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As a child just after Statehood 53 yrs. ago, I was enthralled by the theme song to CBS local affiliate’s Saturday Island matinee playhouse. I still have not pinned down its title, but I remember it sounding a little like Glen Miller’s Moonlight Serenade. Music aficionados “in the know” are long dead & gone [the great George Camarillo/Gloriana Adap/etc.], so I’ll have to sleuth a little more to find out the melodic magic of half a century ago. Nonetheless, I present to you favorites of mine over the years. Enjoy 😉
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Beautiful Pachelbel’s Canon, lost to history for centuries
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Af372EQLck *
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Operatic Pi’ihonua melody by Helen Desha Beamer
[sung by great falsetto George Helm’s niece Raiatea]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvLz3Wv2-Rg
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soaring crescendo by Hui Ohana — All Hawai’i Stand Together
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKNRW1dUWCg
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Keaukaha’s Albert Nahale’a — He Punahele No
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‘Oe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibxHE7iI61Q&feature=related
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My favorite genre — Doo Wop
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG4On_3QDjg
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ebeKFwEkY
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9DLZ8GiTsg&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UolfP35cEeI
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1CThIAWo0
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As your viewers would say, “You’re a legend, Deb!! Where’s the “epic” key to click on???
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http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNickNicola?blend=4&ob=5#p/u/0/LC2q1r11ygQ
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surreal Hawaiian Soul [for George Helm/Kimo Mitchell]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS9JY1PxeQY
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the incomparable falsetto George Helm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCt7sVrhH4Y
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Na Leo Pilimehana ladies’ trio —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx_vSTtGxQQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FdyaYFZ3gk
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Weldon Kekauoha’s “Queen’s Jubilee” [Hilo’s Jan Kekauoha’s nephew]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YzK4FRDMGc
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Among my Hawaiian Souvenirs by Sonny Cunha [excerpt]
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http://www.mele.com/music/artist/genoa+keawe/among+my+hawaiian+souvenirs/ *
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Great Abba/Olivia Newton John/ELO –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_9CiNkkn4&feature=related
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http://www.videosurf.com/video/abba-the-winner-takes-it-all-105936909
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http://www.videosurf.com/video/abba-take-a-chance-on-me-&olivia-special-1978-8018032
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z26atUKQWsA&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m1UWSD-FaA
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TLmpL2AzLs
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Maui’s Sly Dog group with song — ”Summer of Love”
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http://www.reverbnation.com/slydog
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Opihi Pickers adolescent lilt/voice — Old Fashion Touch
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXewtL_kX4k
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Ekolu “Just one Night” Doo Wop tune
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKgWM7aMyk8
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America’s beautiful ballad “Sister Goldenhair”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzUQZw3wfro
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lively Nippon gals w/Beatles’ Tell Me Why
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDDMbbXqFTI&feature=related
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deeper with alto voice blend —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrpfJWNwW5M
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Publisher Mike Aiello’s gorgeous wife Elena Welch our enthralling jazz vocalist, besides being a venerated graphic artist. Visit Elena at Elena Welch.com
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Two visions of the future: 1) Kaku’s science and my desired
template of 2) Christian inclusion
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1) Kaku’s science —-
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Two experiences shaped astrophysicist Nisei 3rd generation Japanese American Michio Kaku born 1947 [Michio’s dad is Kibei — went back to Japan/schooling/came back to U.S. — thence Michio’s 2nd generation Nisei japaneezee inflection/mannerisms]– when Michio was 8 yrs. old, Einstein died, leaving behind Einstein’s unfinished manuscript/magnum opus masterpiece [theory of everything which unlocks the secrets of the universe — to read the mind of God, so to speak] – why couldn’t the greatest scientist of our time find it so difficult to finish his paper, so to speak? Thence Michio vows now to finish Michio’s paper! 
Second, Michio was intoxicated w/Pu’u’eo native Buster Crabbe [mama was Hilo Union teacher/stepdad was Hilo mayor Clem Akina]spaceship retinue in TV’s Flash Gordon series. Michio’s DNA traces back to Nepal, home of Buddha. Michio predicts that by 2100 [89 yrs. from now] we will control computers via tiny brain sensors, & move objects around with the power of our minds. Cyber-enabled contact lenses will access to our pupils the world’s information bank/wikipedia in the blink of our eye. Cars will cushion/coast along on air magnetic fields if room temperature superconductors are discovered, every organ will be grown & genetic diseases will be cured via molecular medicine [DNA sensors/nanoparticles will scan our bodies for the first sign of illness, via our bloodstream], our aging will be slowed down/reversed, nanotechnology will give us the fabled space elevator, which will take us hundreds of miles above the earth’s atmosphere at the click of the key, we’ll have emotional robots/antimatter rockets/x-ray vision, creation of new life forms via science.
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2) Christian inclusion —-
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I desire to believe in repentance after death/growth in God’s Holiness even after death, so that Hell as we know it is reserved only for those rarest few who
continue to turn their back on God. Valerie Saruwatari born 1943 & Amy Aihara born 1936 from my brother’s church shall end up in the top of God’s
Tower [penthouse 
] along with purest soul of the Bible Outcast on to Egypt Joseph, martyr Stephen, Peter’s baby brother Andrew, Joshua, Gideon, Nathan, Lydia, Rahab, & other transformative figures of Scripture. David will end up several floors below Valerie/Amy, because David can’t bring back Uriah’s life [David cold-bloodedly masterminded Uriah’s murder/assassination], David’s son Solomon a floor or so above David [Solomon decadent opulence negative
exemplar]. My greatest sentient heroes Keoni & Lukini Andrew born 1942/1943 shall lead the way at the top of God’s Tower, & among their sine qua
non brethren shall be KingLit Ching born 1936 and Denise Takashima born 1953, along with Sanford Okura born 1948 and Janice Nakagawa Thomas Kekauoha born 1937 of Waipi’o Valley.
I’ll be swimming fine outside the ground floor in the blue lagoon, & KingLit will be scoping down w/his binoculars from God’s Penthouse to make sure that
I’m not copulating in public , which then demotes me down into the dark chamber of Hell’s subterranean neverland. KingLit’s dad Hung Wai
1905-2002 won’t need binoculars to peek at me — Hung Wai will be on the 3rd floor attempting to jump into the lagoon to join me. Of course, KingLit’s
mom will be in God’s Penthouse being served by dutiful son KingLit. P.S. Hell is not a fiery inferno, but instead a cold dark chamber which does
not see the light of day — I’ll let you know how lonely/desolate/forsaken/mind-killing it is if I copulate in public & end up down there!
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On the transforming effect of divine grace [repentance/judgment/salvation/atonement]
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2 Peter 1:4 explicitly speaks of becoming “partakers of the Divine nature.” Closely allied are the teachings of Paul the Apostle that through the Spirit we are sons of God (as in chapter 8 of his Epistle to the Romans) and of the Gospel according to John on the indwelling of the Trinity (as in chapters 14-17).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis
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- Romans 5:12-20
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
- 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
- Colossians 1:15-23
- Philippians 2:9-11
- 1 Timothy 2:3-6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitarian_Universalism#Core_Trinitarian_doctrine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_Hell#Divine_mercy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_soteriology#Comparison_between_Protestants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_reconciliation
Reconciliation & Christian salvation — i.e., salvation from spiritual and physical death –
The word, apokatastasis, only appears once in the Bible in Acts 3:21. Peter heals a handicapped beggar and then addresses the astonished onlookers. His sermon sets Jesus in the Jewish context, the fulfiller of the Abrahamic Covenant, and says:
- “[Jesus] whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring (apocatastasis) all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” – or in a less literal translation:
- “He [Jesus] must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore (apocatastasis) everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
Both these translations use “time” (singular) to translate “χρόνων” (“of times”). A strictly literal translation of the whole verse is:
- “whom it behoveth heaven, indeed, to receive till times of a restitution of all things, of which God spake through the mouth of all His holy prophets from the age.”
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- A contrarian precept —
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- What about those who do not believe? Wouldn’t they repent and believe if they
were given a second chance? The answer is no, they would not because their
hearts are not changed simply because they die. Their hearts and minds “are at
enmity” against God and won’t accept Him even when they see Him face to face.
This is evidenced clearly in the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. If ever someone should have repented when
given a second chance to see clearly the truth, it was the rich man. But
although he was in torment in hell, he only asked that Abraham send Lazarus back
to earth to warn his brothers so they didn’t have to suffer the same fate. There
was no repentance in his heart, only regret for where he found himself.
Abraham’s answer says it all: “And he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and
the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even though one rose from the dead”
(Luke 16:31). Here we see that the witness of the
Scriptures is sufficient for salvation for those who believe it, and no other
revelation will bring about salvation to those who do not. No second, third or
fourth chances would be enough to turn the heart of stone into a heart of
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- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parables_of_Jesus
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- Gethsemane — overwhelming sadness and anguish, and said “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.” Then, a little while later, He said, “If this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!” (Matthew 26:42)
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- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agony_in_the_Garden#Scriptural_depiction
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- Luke 16:22 speaks of the “bosom of Abraham” which both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, following early Christian writers, understand as a temporary state of souls awaiting entrance into Heaven.
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- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo#Limbo_of_the_Patriarchs
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- The New Testament maintains a distinction between Sheol, the common “place of the dead,” and the eternal destiny of those condemned at the Final Judgment, variously described as Gehenna, “the outer darkness,” or a lake of eternal fire.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrowing_of_Hell#Conceptions_of_the_afterlife
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- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/how-do-mormons-answer-not-christian-claims/2011/10/11/gIQA9ii4eL_blog.html?hpid=z13*Polling data shows that the biggest problem for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that about half the population knows nothing about us. But gradually, things are changing. As I’ve said before in this column, unfamiliarity and misunderstanding will continue to dissipate as the church’s membership grows. Research shows that people have a far better view of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they know a member personally. There is a point when those people who have seen Mormons caricatured in their Sunday School classes realize that the second-hand prejudices they have learned don’t fit with their first- hand experiences with faithful Latter-day Saints.
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- Spirit prison is believed by the Latter-day Saints to be both a place and the state of the soul between death and the resurrection, for people who have either not yet received knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, or those who have been taught but have rejected it. It is a temporary state within the spirit world. Those who rejected the gospel after it was preached to them may suffer in a condition known as hell. The suffering associated with the spirit prison refers to anguish of soul because of acute knowledge of one’s own sins and unclean state.Latter-day Saints believe that spirit prison (a name based on the phrase “the spirits in prison” in the KJV translation of Peter 3:19) is a place in the post-mortal spirit world for those who have “died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.” This is a temporary state in which spirits will be taught the Gospel and have the opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation that are performed for them in temples. Those who accept the Gospel may dwell in paradise until the Resurrection. Those who choose not to repent but who are not sons of perdition will remain in spirit prison until the end of the Millennium, when they will be freed from hell and punishment and be resurrected to a telestial glory.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_prison
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- Popular use: permanent abode of sons of perdition
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- In modern Latter-day Saint vernacular, outer darkness usually refers to an eternal state of punishment. It is believed by Latter Day Saints that very few people who have lived on the earth will be consigned to this state, but Latter-day Saint scripture suggests that at least Cain will be present. Other mortals who during their lifetime become sons of perdition—those who commit the unpardonable sin—will be consigned to outer darkness. It is taught that the unpardonable sin is committed by those who “den[y] the Son after the Father has revealed him.” However, the vast majority of residents of outer darkness will be the “devil and his angels … the third part of the hosts of heaven” who in the pre-existence followed Lucifer and never received a mortal body. The residents of outer darkness are the only children of God that will not receive one of three kingdoms of glory at the Last Judgment. Sons of perdition will remain in outer darkness and suffer for eternity with Satan. This state shares some similarities with certain Christian views of hell.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_World_(Latter_Day_Saints)#Popular_use:_permanent_abode_of_sons_of_perdition
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- Latter-day Saint tradition
- *The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormonism, teaches that those who die without knowledge of LDS theology will have the opportunity to receive a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit world. In Mormon belief, only “sons of perdition” who chose to reject Jesus are destined for Hell, a form of universalism that assisted the early rise of the Mormon faith. Latter-day Saints believe that God has provided a way so that all of humanity will have an opportunity to hear the message of the gospel, and can thereby choose whether to accept it or not. Latter-day Saints cite biblical passages found in 1 Peter.
- 1 Peter 3:
- 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
- 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
- 1 Peter 4:
- 6 For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
Since Latter-day Saints believe that all must receive the proper ordinances in order to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, today members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participate in a massive genealogical effort to compile names of their kindred dead, and then to perform sacred ordinances, such as baptism, in behalf and as proxies for their deceased ancestors in sacred temples, which are found throughout the world.
- “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” — 1 Corinthians 15:29
- 1 Peter 3:
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- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_of_the_unlearned#Latter-day_Saint_tradition
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- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-mayo/five-myths-about-forgiveness-in-the-bible_b_924286.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=081611&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
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- http://jeffandcindy.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/topic-59-did-jesus-descend-into-hell/
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- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Worthies
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Ginger Lane across the old Cow Palace [fka Amfac warehouse] b/n Sun Sun Lau/Pick N Pay 1940s had ladies of the nite, and Ginger Lane connected mauka/inland to Butcher Lane, which had the ubiquitous “Cottage” bordello famous for its 2 minute drill — Pinoy single men laborers squirt squirt done [discrimination vs. Pinoy for not having family life].
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“Cuban” chicken fighter is counter-intuitive pidgin, which means to fight w/quick hands [named for the Cuban chickens imported to America & then to Hawai’i], when in actuality cuba means to lie down to sleep. Opposite meanings.
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Amazingly beautiful Radha age 53 threads like no other — Radha is Hindu for beloved, and Radha certainly looks the part of blessed by a deity with gorgeous looks & a sense of peace/calm.
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I blogged in my previous article about the Eastern dharma in our 1st Axial Age, analog in time w/the Old Testament. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana
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German National Hackfeld Inc. [literally purloined by Big 5 conglomerate AmFac WWI] was our biggest benefactor/altruist [hospitals aka Hilo Hospital/schools aka central public schools/capitalists-entrepreneurs incl. Issei immigrant Kona coffee farmers], just as Klaus Spreckles was our mega-sugar industrialist, larger than our later Big 5 combined, just as Henry Kaiser was our mega industrialist & our biggest benefactor-philanthropist post-WWII. So the same, the contempo world of ideas is German — Immanuel Kant, G. Wilhelm Hegel, Karl Marx, Rudolf Clausius, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Planck, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Max Weber, and two world wars. So today Gregor Mendel of genes paves the way in behavior. Ideas don’t hit home everywhere and everytime like Marxism [Lenin/Stalin/Mao/WWII — Max Planck-Albert Einstein/Cold War/9-11 & Middle East & Israel where it is]. On top of Marx’ papers on monopolies/globalization/inequality/political corruption, are that economics-geography are the driving forces of human development-progression-regression/at least w/our environment — capitalism destroys as it creates. Because of Freud we have a therapeutic society, inward bound as Thomas Mann would say [though Lapierre & Lasch say that Freud brought about our narcissist society today]. Of course, Nietsche’s “God is Dead” rings loudly as Stephen Hawking says the same thing in 2011 AD. So Weber says that we live in a purposeless world, & our only way out is to make it meaningful via inward attitude, though Weber was ethnocentricly biased toward the Western World as our savior, without considering fellow German Viktor Frankl’s greatest idealogy of the Will to Meaning, about proper personal attitude, thence falling into the same template malaise as Nietzsche & acolyte Adler. Frankl does not gaudy up attitude to Geothe’s bildung [inwardness — higher being]. Of course, Hitler perverted German excellence into German xenophobia amid its loss in WWI. Thence the fall of German renaissance superiority.
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In Western Oceania, vs. parts Eastern, until the early 1870s [140 yrs. ago] change only came later but more rapidly once it did — Solomon Island societies esp. the most inaccessible areas, only had contact w/Westerners when the indentured labor trade gained a foothold — yet Melanesian expatriatism would be truncated a century ago via the end of indentured servitutde. W/annexation in the 1840s/1850s via Holland/Britain/France acquisition of west Papua/New Zealand/Tahiti/Marquesas/New Caledonia, w/Fiji ceded to Britain 1874, eastern New Guinea divided b/n Germany & Britain 1884, Rapa Nui annexed by Chile 1888, Cook Islands coming under British rule 1888, parts of Solomon Islands becoming British protectorate 1893, Hawai’i occupied by U.S. 1893-annexed 1898, Samoan Islands partitioned b/n Germany & U.S. 1899, Anglo-French confluence over New Hebrides, later Vanuatu, in 1906, Tonga reformed as constitutional monarchy 1875 & retained sovereignty though w/n British sphere of influence – counterintuitive, but islanders across the great Pacific previously were engaged in elaborate systems of trade w/close neighbors & more distant partners, resulting in diplomacy & commerce a la Hawai’i — voyaging & trade were second nature to our Pacific Islanders. The experience of empire was not a unique European project but innate to our Islanders — appropriation of lands/command of labor/violent killings-genocide. Colonialism on a smaller scale than European conquest of our Islanders.
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gerrymandering [corrupt drawing of district boundary lines] overview
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Impeachment per Hawai’i County Charter Article XII Sec. 12-2.1 —
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Impeachment petition needs 2% or 111 voters per 2008 general election from Onishi’s District 4. Impeachment petition need not go thru Board of Ethics, & can be instituted on its own. Obviously, Onishi committed [among other things] maladministration per impeachment standard, inasmuch gerrymandering or corrupt boundary marking is a corrosive fundamental violation of our democratic process by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts. Impeachment presided over by circuit court judge.
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Imagine, activist Flaherty’s testimony should’ve resulted in incumbents Yoshimoto running off vs. Onishi — Sheez!!
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It’s too bad that our redistricting commissioners were immune from being questioned on the record, because District 4 commissioner Patrick Kahawaiolaa said on the record that District 4 council member Onishi spoke directly to Kahawaiolaa. About what we don’t know. Onishi’s objective to his supporters was to avert a showdown race vs. fellow incumbent Yoshimoto.
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Petitioner is a concerned U.S. citizen and resident of Hawai’i County who wants clean government, specifically that elected District 4 Council member Dennis “Fresh” Onishi not use his official position as an elected Council member to secure special treatment for himself and his agents such as the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 368 Hawaii (LIU) — in lobbying our Hawai’i County Redistricting Commission to avert a runoff election between incumbent Council members Onishi and District 3 J Yoshimoto. As a guide, Hawai’i County Code (governed by our County Charter) Chapter 36 Section 36-4(7) (Redistricting Commission) prohibits drawing of council district boundaries to avert an incumbent facing off another incumbent for re-election. Elected District 4 Council member Richard “Fresh” Onishi used his authority as an incumbent Council member to secure favors/consideration/special treatment from the LIU on 15 of 23 form letters which were erroneously faxed (per Onishi’s instruction) all at the same time to the Hilo County Clerk, wherein Onishi’s aide enabled receipt and acknowledgement of these faxes. Such favors/consideration/special treatment beyond those which are available to every other person (such as any resident of Hawai’i), the excess manifesting solely because of Onishi’s stature as an elected Council member. The LIU as Onishi’s agent also secured favors/consideration/special treatment beyond those which are available to every other person (such as any resident of Hawai’i), solely because of Onishi’s stature as an elected Council member. The remaining 8 of 23 form letters nearly are identical to the other 15 letters, all 23 form letters erroneously being faxed to the Hilo County Clerk (per Onishi’s genesis instruction). All 23 letters originate from a November 17, 2011 email purportedly from Onishi describing how the proposed council map put him in the same district as District 3 Council member J Yoshimoto and asking people to testify to have the map changed. The revised map prior to the November 30, 2011 final map which benefited Onishi pitted Onishi against District 3 Council member J Yoshimoto. The form letters’ signatures and addresses were indecipherable and there were no printed names on them. The redistricting repercussions include but are not limited especially to District 3 Redistricting Commissioner Mike Middlesworth’s professed impartiality which is utterly suspect about District 3 incumbent Council member J Yoshimoto, as testified to by Charles Flaherty:
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“CHARLES FLAHERTY
(At this time Charles Flaherty came forward from Kona to address members of the Commission.)
MR. FLAHERTY: Aloha members of the Redistricting Commission. I am here-You know I have testified before you on several occasions, I have commended you for your work and have made some suggestions; some of which you listened to and some you haven’t, just like with everyone. But I always have been commending your work. For the October 20th meeting, I did so as well and had some very nice conversations after that meeting on October 20th at Yano Hall, including Commissioner Middlesworth. My conversation with Mr. Middlesworth at that time, I found interesting, because of the-He was comfortable sharing that there was a Plan_46, that had not yet been made public, but he discussed his reasons for it. He went into detail about the different changes that he made and why he made them. He also shared with me that Mr. Yoshimoto and Mr. Onishi were in the same district with a Margaret Wille map, but he didn’t believe that was going to be a problem because it was his understanding that Mr. Yoshimoto was not going to be running for the Council. I didn’t ask him why and he said that he didn’t know why, but he thought that perhaps he just wanted to start practicing law, and had been on the Council long enough. So, I really didn’t think too much of that. I shared with him that I knew that Brenda Ford and Brittany Smart-I had known from before the redistricting even began, that it was very likely, because of the way the population was, and that we would have to start in lower Puna, that they would be running against each other. So that wasn’t a surprise; and I found it very interesting that Councilmember Ford came forth with her own map and had her and Brittany Smart running against each other, which I really thought showed a lot of integrity.
I do want to point out to you all that the Big Island Press Club awarded myself and CERG, Citizens for Equitable and Responsible Government, the Torch of Light Award last year. Brenda Ford was a part of that organization, and she really has been a major proponent for the changes that were made. I think this last minute change that was made-I’m not saying that anybody knew where exactly Mr. Yoshimoto and Mr. Onishi lived, however, from the testifiers I have heard, from the conversation that I had with Mr. Middlesworth, it’s clear that they knew they were in the same district. But no one said, Mr. Yoshimoto lives here, Mr. Onishi lives here. The fact that this last minute change has come through, even if it inadvertently-Even if it’s inadvertent, it still violates the law, because the law says-
CHR. SIRACUSA: Your time is up, will you please finish up quickly; summarize.
MR. FLAHERTY: The summary is that even if you have inadvertently caused incumbents to be favored in this case, with the change, I think it would be in the interest of the Commission, with regard to your excellent integrity and performance to date, to reverse those changes and go back to the original map. Thank you very much.
CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you. I think we have another testifier in Pāhoa.”
http://damontucker.com/2011/12/21/the-hawaii-county-redistricting-process-was-there-gerrymandering-the-minutes-from-the-last-commission-meeting/*And here is testimony of District 4 Redistricting Commissioner Patrick Kahawai’ola’a:
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“MR. KAHAWAIOLA’A:
…. The process will show-I come from District 4 in Hilo… And it is not wrong; it is not wrong for Fresh to be able to round his troops. Yeah, he even asked me; “Was I stupid for doing that?” Well, you are the politician, I’m not. You see, you gotta run for re-election, you gotta get out in that district, whether it is against J or not… Being a Commissioner ten years ago on this thing, to again be accused of gerrymandering something that I did not even know what gerrymandering was ten years ago, just for the sake of the perception that I have now allowed J Yoshimoto to be in one, and Fresh to stay in his. But to make it clear, Fresh is my representative, I voted for him the last time, and I also would, like someone mentioned, you make assertions about the newspaper; well I would defer, if Fresh is not your representative, I don’t think he should be called stupid. So, let’s not get into those divisive things… I didn’t come here to save two Japanese councilmen, so they can get their thing. I voted to make sure that the process was done, 20,462 people in one district; high or low, 4.99% either way. That is what I did. So again, thank you very much for allowing me to rant.
CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you for your rant, Patrick. Does any other Commissioner want to say something?”
http://damontucker.com/2011/12/21/the-hawaii-county-redistricting-process-was-there-gerrymandering-the-minutes-from-the-last-commission-meeting/*_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________*
3. Specific Provision on the Code of Ethics in Question:
It shall constitute a conflict of interest for employees or officers of the county to:
(b) Use their official position to secure special privileges, consideration, treatment or
exemption to themselves or any person beyond that which is available to every
other person.
Complete Statement of Facts summarized via newspaper article below:
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http://kona.westhawaiitoday.com/sections/news/local-news/onishi-curve.html
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December 8, 2011 – 10:14pm
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — A last-minute change to the new County Council district map has saved Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi from having to square off against fellow incumbent J Yoshimoto.
The change, revealed by detailed maps released late Wednesday by the county Redistricting Commission, trims Yoshimoto’s neighborhood out of District 3, where Onishi plans to run for re-election, and puts it into District 2, where Hilo Councilman Donald Ikeda is term-limited and can’t seek re-election.
The District 2 line was moved 1.1 miles east for a 1.1-mile-by-0.7-mile rectangle that contains Yoshimoto’s Pukana Street house.
The scramble happened Nov. 30 as the commission took away one of Hilo’s three districts to make a second Puna district to accommodate population changes.
West Hawaii Today has obtained a Nov. 17 email purportedly from Onishi describing how the proposed council map put him in the same district as Yoshimoto and asking people to testify to have the map changed. The email asks that testimony be faxed to 961-8912, which is the Clerk’s Office Hilo fax number. The Redistricting Commission’s fax line is in Kona and has a different number.
“If you can help, I need written testimony to change the way the lines are drawn for District 2 and 3,” the email says. “The proposal is to go from ‘mountain to ocean’ and the lines are drawn very weird … So request that they go back to what is was before ‘North to South lines’.”
That language was echoed in almost verbatim phrases in 23 form letters, 15 of which were faxed from the Hilo office of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 368 Hawaii.
“Keep the lines the same as before and don’t go from the ocean to the mountain,” the form letter states. “Please keep the lines going ‘North to South’ as it has always been.”
The letters were not faxed to the commission’s fax number, but to the Hilo clerk’s number listed in the email purportedly from Onishi.
Pete Lindsey, field representative for the union, who also testified orally at the commission’s Nov. 30 meeting, did not return a telephone message Thursday.
The letters describe specific streets that should form the boundary lines, streets that were ultimately used to put Onishi and Yoshimoto in separate districts.
“This will not affect any other districts because you are only changing the lines in Hilo, remember it’s up to the three commissioners in District 2, 3 and 4 to work together and come up with the ‘best’ representation for Hilo,” some of the form letters state.
Yoshimoto said he has distanced himself from the redistricting process and did not contact any commissioners about the district lines. Nor did he have anyone advocate on his behalf, he said. He specifically denied talking with anyone from the LIUHNA.
“I just wanted the process to play out on its own,” Yoshimoto said, adding that he will decide after the holidays whether to run for a county or a state legislative seat.
“The integrity of the redistricting process is the most important focus at this time,” he added.
Onishi, who has already started fundraising for the council seat, did not return a detailed message left on his cellphone Thursday about the email bearing his name.
Is the commission’s action considered gerrymandering — dividing a district to give one individual or group an advantage?
Commission Chairwoman Rene Siracusa said not if it wasn’t done deliberately. She said she hadn’t realized the significance of the Hilo change, because she doesn’t know where council members live and made it a point not to find out.
“As far as I know, it was not moved to accommodate an incumbent,” Siracusa said. “As far as I know, none of the commissioners knows where the council members live.”
The county code states, “Council district boundaries shall be drawn without regard to any incumbent’s residential location, any incumbent’s ability to run for re-election in that incumbent’s current council district or whether any incumbent faces another incumbent for re-election.”
If someone decided to challenge the map in court, “the burden of proof would be on them and I don’t think they’d have an easy task of it,” Siracusa said.
Siracusa, representing Puna’s District 5, said no council members were named or taken into consideration when the lines were drawn. No councilors contacted her, she said.
Siracusa said she “totally ignored” the form letters, because the signatures on most were indecipherable and there were no printed names on them.
She referred specific questions about the changes to the three Hilo commissioners. Commissioner Mike Middlesworth, who had been the most vocal about the change, didn’t return a telephone message Thursday.
Siracusa said three council members — South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford, who drafted the commission rules, the term-limited Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann and Onishi — testified at various points in the months-long process. Onishi’s testimony early in the process touched on the historical neighborhoods in the Hilo districts, but he didn’t specify where the lines should be drawn, according to the minutes.
Siracusa said the Nov. 30 map is now “carved in lava,” and a meeting scheduled for Dec. 22 doesn’t have the map on the agenda. The commission plans to complete its written rationale that day, she said.
“The map is done,” Siracusa said. “Unless someone takes us to court and the court rules against us, this is it.”
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Council member Onishi shall be subject to disclipinary action by proper authorities.
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Hawai’i County Charter ARTICLE III
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
COUNTY COUNCIL
Section 3-5. Removal of Council Members.
Any council member may be removed by impeachment or recall proceedings as provided
by this charter.
(1979, Prop. 9; 1990, Prop. 14, sec. 1.)
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Extrapolate candidate preferences — Yagong 55% Kenoi 45% —
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contested Council District 5 —
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Blas 3,678 votes 57.6%
Naeole 2,532 votes 39.6%
171 blank votes 2.7%
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District 5 —
construe Naeole votes to be Kenoi votes [esp. Hawaiian] 2,532 votes 39.6%
blank votes are certainly Yagong votes 171 votes 2.7%
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contested Council District 6 —
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Smart 3,689 votes 59.5%
Enriques 2,336 votes 37.7%
175 blank votes 2.8%
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District 6 — do not construe Enriques votes to be Kenoi votes since Filipinos & haole retirees are drawn to Yagong 2,336 37.7%
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http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2010/primary/files/precinct%20statewide.pdf
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Primary Election Results —
*Blank & opposition votes: Council District 1 1,157 28.2%
” 2 888 18.2% [Ikeda’s foe Young]
830 17.0%
” 3 1,916 37.5%
” 4 1,218 31.2%
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guess that primary election blank votes are “no ke’a” & not necessarily protest vs. incumbent
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Council District 7 —
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Ford 2,455 votes 55%
Freire 1,631 votes 36.6%
blank 374 votes 8.4%
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construe Freire & blank votes to be Kenoi votes 1,631 plus 374 = 2,005 45%
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Council District 8 —
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Pilago 1,725 votes 46.6%
Hecht 700 votes 18.9%
Rath 614 votes 16.6%
Greenwell 336 votes 9.1%
blank 328 votes 8.9%
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construe all of District 8 votes to be Yagong votes except for blank votes of 328 votes
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Council District 9 —
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Hoffmann 2,352 votes 56.2%
Sanborn 964 votes 23%
Torres 455 votes 10.9%
blank 413 votes 9.9%
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construe Sanborn, Torres, & blank votes to be Kenoi votes 964 + 455 + 413 = 1,832 43.8%
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so take 1,832 for Kenoi & 2,352 for Yagong in District 9
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so take 3,375 for Yagong & 328 for Kenoi in District 8
*so take 2,455 for Yagong & 2,005 for Kenoi in District 7*so take 3,689 Smart votes & half of Enriques votes [Filipinos & haole fiscal conservatives] or 1,168 & all of 175 blank votes to be Yagong votes of 5,032 votes, while 1,168 are Kenoi votes for District 6
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Projected hypothetical 2012 mayor results based on 2010 primary election results —
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Dom Yagong 65% of projected votes island-wide
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Billy Kenoi 35% of projected votes island-wide
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on paper, a 2 to 1 margin
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Council Districts 2 + 3 + 4 = 13,893 votes
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West/South Hawai’i Island — Council Districts 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 16,826 votes
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East Hawai’i Council Districts 1 + 5 = 8,748 votes
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Add West/South Hawai’i Council Districts 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 AND East Hawai’i Council Districts 1 + 5 = total 25,574 votes, versus 13,893 votes for Council Districts 2 + 3 + 4
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25,574 votes + 13,893 votes = 39,467 total votes cast islandwide
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25,574 votes = 65%
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13,893 votes = 35%
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Imagine, nin-com-poop slimeballs threaten a high office candidate at the candidate’s home in the total darkness of the early morning hours, saying that the candidate needs to drop out of the race for high office or else … [harm shall result to the candidate’s family], such egregious conduct being major felonies. The candidate chooses to tough it out and continue with the candidacy, such criminal behavior by these sewer slime cowards resolving even fiercer progressive reform on the candidate’s part to wipe out such toxic contagions/totalitarianism. An outsider allegedly could hypothesize getting a Mehau as bigtime peacemaker/mediator to call off the cowards, so to speak, but then again a favor given is a future favor risked from the giver, so to speak. And progressive reform, not to mention practical wisdom/down-home common decency, entertains no such folly from the victim. Your family gets threatened, you could cap the cowards in a blink. But inner courage/steeled stoicism imbue even more the candidate to render such gutter cowards irrelevant by way of continued progressive reform instituted by the candidate. Spiritual inner voice/humble valor suffuse completely the utterly larger than life/superhuman/commendable candidate. Public sector employee/union retained thugs, so to speak, or unspeakably despicable cowards? Both, you ascribe? Pray for democracy’s salient silent heroes like our candidate, who will not surrender to despotic nazi cowards.
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from erudite “Thomas” vs. Planning Dept. cover-up on developers’ failure to pay for infrastructure —
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http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/fair-share-system-under-scrutiny.html
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How many angels can fit on the head of a pin? None, or as many as God desires. Science is not the answer to our prayers. Hawai’i is insulated from conquest because of its isolation. Thence our ubiquitous welcoming aloha spirit — love and nothing but love.
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Duke Kawasaki the thug of McCully, helped develop Waialae-Iki, wife alleged inveterate gambler, son is money is god Guy the capitalist. Kaoru Noda the opposite of tengu/ibaru/monoshiri Duke — Kaoru 442 2nd Batt. G Co. war hero, quiet as a church mouse, biology prof-scholar, enabled UH-Hilo to 4 yr. school.
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Abercrombie no dummy — postulates extortion by NFL to compromise for lower payment to NFL for Hawai’i power — ideal winter holiday retreat for NFL stars.
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Vehicle boom boxes/removal of mufflers-baffles [correlate to increase in speed of vehicle/cycle] weighty issues which our County has not addressed.
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Isamu Kanekuni born 1921 doesn’t know what bushido means.
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http://www.bushidohistory.com/
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Bushido is roughly divided into two views.
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Bushido had been developed in samurai society which started from the Kamakura period (1192-1333). Then, it was united with Confucianism and ripened at the Edo period (Tokugawa shogunate era, 1603-1868).
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It is roughly divided into two, “Bushido before the Edo period”, and “the Bushido ripened at the Edo period”, in the process of it’s development. The work representing the former is “Hagakure” written in the domain of saga , So it is called “Hagakure Bushido.”
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And the work representing the latter is ,as you may know, “Bushido” written by Nitobeinazo. It is the famous work which was called “Tokugawa Bushido” and written in English.
Here is a general summary of the two periods.
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1. Hagakure Bushido – If it says which is Hagakure Bushido, it will be the Bushido of the Age of Civil Wars. Hagakure Bushido is the view which prizes “heart” and “reality.”
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2. Tokugawa Bushido – By using Confucianism as backbone, the Tokugawa Bushido is intellect and moral and values order. Moreover, the Tokugawa Bushido has put emphasis on responsibility of samurai in the law-governed state house.
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to draw tourists. Thurston’s vision on tourism amplifies his craving to keep Hawai’i geography pristine and untouched. Such conservationism propagates toward the formation of today’s HVNP system. Our unique third world feel in an American territory encourages Stateside participation in our dream of keeping Hawai’i rural, yet safe for American tourists. Thurston’s fellow missionary progeny Walter Dillingham recruits Swedish immigrant & Bank of America ace Rudy Peterson to service our budding labor force in the tourist industry. Rudy Peterson recruits President Obama’s tutu wahine/grandma “Toots” — and a century after Ford & Thurston gather to promote Hawai’i as the tome of trade and tourism, President Obama stands as the manifestation of such convergence. President Obama loves surfing, and fittingly Duke Kahanamoku’s Hui Nalu surfing club was formed a century ago in 1911, to compete vs. Ford’s Outrigger Club formed a century before President Obama’s election win in 2008.__________________________________________________________________________
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Don’t watch Sixty Minutes [broadcast journalism] on Steve Wynn unless this TV show features Mike Milken, who made Wynn, so to speak.
Milken was largely involved with kick-starting investments in Nevada, which for many years was the fastest-growing state in the U.S. Milken funded the gaming industry, newspapers and homebuilders, and among the companies he financed were MGM Mirage, Mandalay Resorts, Harrah’s Entertainment and Park Place.
This money-raising ability also facilitated the activities of leveraged buyout (LBO) firms like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and of so-called “greenmailers.” Armed with a “highly confident letter” from Drexel (in which Drexel promised to get the necessary debt in time to fulfill the buyer’s obligations), these firms and greenmailers were able to profit by merely threatening LBOs of large, blue-chip companies in which they had built up equity positions. Milken’s task was perhaps made easier by the fact that the top-tier Wall St investment banks were unwilling to compete with him for fear of jeopardizing their longstanding and lucrative relationships with many of these blue-chip companies who were potentially his targets, although latterly companies like Salomon Brothers, Morgan Stanley and First Boston did enter the high-yield market. Notable buyouts financed by Drexel of companies previously thought invulnerable included Beatrice Companies and the cosmetics firm,Revlon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken#The_high-yield_market_and_the_1980s_buyout_boom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken#Scandal
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Wynn had previously acquired interests in various existing casinos. His first major Strip casino, the Mirage, which opened in 1989, set a new standard for size, opulence and construction costs. The Mirage featured an indoor forest and an outdoor “volcano”; and with high-quality room appointments and an emphasis on service, the Mirage was another major success. The Mirage was the first project in which he was involved in the design and construction of a casino. The $630 million cost to build the facility was financed largely with junk bonds issued by Michael Milken. The property was considered a high-risk venture by the standards then prevailing in Las Vegas because of its expensiveness and emphasis on luxury. However, it became enormously lucrative and made Wynn a major part of Las Vegas history.
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I never knew of girl fairy tales like Goldilocks/Cinderella/Snow White because 1) my parents were old enough to be my grandparents, being among the older 2nd generation Japanese [Nisei], who were not steeped in Americana lore; 2) I have no sisters to propagate girl fairy tales. So when a sweet female patron at the library giggled to me that she felt like Goldilocks testing several sizes [heights] of chairs, I went blank, & she knew it!
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So here bespeaks Goldilocks 
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks#Interpretations
Interpretations
Harvard University professor Maria Tatar in The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales (2002) notes that Southey’s tale is sometimes viewed as a cautionary tale that imparts a lesson about the hazards of wandering off and exploring unknown territory. Like “The Tale of the Three Little Pigs“, the story uses repetitive formulas to engage the child’s attention and to reinforce the point about safety and shelter.[17] Tatar points out that the tale is typically framed today as a discovery of what is “just right”, but for earlier generations, it was a tale about an intruder who could not control herself when encountering the possessions of others.
Illustration by John Batten, 1890
In The Uses of Enchantment (1976), child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim describes Goldilocks as “poor, beautiful, and charming”, and notes that the story does not describe her positively except for her hair.[22] Bettelheim mainly discussed the tale in terms of Goldilock’s struggle to move past Oedipal issues to confront adolescent identity problems.
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In Bettelheim’s view, the tale fails to encourage children “to pursue the hard labor of solving, one at a time, the problems which growing up presents”, and does not end as fairy tales should with the “promise of future happiness awaiting those who have mastered their Oedipal situation as a child”. He believes the tale is an escapist one that thwarts the child reading it from gaining emotional maturity.
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Tatar criticizes Bettelheim’s views: “[His] reading is perhaps too invested in instrumentalizing fairy tales, that is, in turning them into vehicles that convey messages and set forth behavioral models for the child. While the story may not solve oedipal issues or sibling rivalry as Bettelheim believes “Cinderella” does, it suggests the importance of respecting property and the consequences of just ’trying out’ things that do not belong to you.”[17] Elms suggests Bettelheim may have missed the anal aspect of the tale that would make it helpful to the child’s personality development.
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Alan C. Elms in Handbook of Psychobiography views Southey’s tale not as one of Bettelheimian post-Oedipal ego development but as one of Freudian pre-Oedipal anality. He believes the story appeals chiefly to pre-schoolers who are engaged in “cleanliness training, maintaining environmental and behavioral order, and distress about disruption of order”. His own experience and his observation of others lead him to believe children align themselves with the tidy, organized ursine protagonists rather than the unruly, delinquent human antagonist. In Elms’ view, the anality of “The Story of the Three Bears” can be traced directly to Robert Southey’s fastidious, dirt-obsessed aunt who raised him and passed her obsession to him in a milder form.
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Literary elements
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The story makes extensive use of the literary rule of three, featuring three chairs, three bowls of porridge, three beds, and the three title characters who live in the house. There are also three sequences of the bears discovering in turn that someone has been eating from their porridge, sitting in their chairs, and finally, lying in their beds, at which point is the climax of Goldilocks being discovered. This follows three earlier sequences of Goldilocks trying the bowls of porridge, chairs, and beds successively, each time finding the third “just right”. Author Christopher Booker characterizes this as the “dialectical three”, where “the first is wrong in one way, the second in another or opposite way, and only the third, in the middle, is just right.” Booker continues “This idea that the way forward lies in finding an exact middle path between opposites is of extraordinary importance in storytelling”.
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The Goldilocks Principle describes a situation which is just right in a manner akin to that portrayed in the tale. And for those whose study entails the Mathematical Term “Golden Section” or 1.618034 how befitting to give “Goldilocks” her title name. The concept prevails not only in literature, but also in astronomy and economics. A Goldilocks planet is neither too close to nor too far from a star to rule out life, while a Goldilocks economy describes one which is sustaining moderate growth and low inflation, which is seen as allowing for a market friendly monetary policy.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Schama#Criticism
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Susan Buck-Morss criticizes Schama’s The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age for its “selective national history” of the Dutch Republic, “that omits much or all of the colonizing story.” “One would have no idea that Dutch hegemony in the slave trade (replacing Spain and Portugal as major players) contributed substantially to the enormous “overload” of wealth that he describes as becoming so socially and morally problematic during the century of Dutch “centrality” to the “commerce of the world.””
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right winger David Hunt — http://premierespeakers.com/david_hunt/bio
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So the same w/Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_F._Hayes#Bill_Moyers_dispute
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IKEA’s shill sell – http://www.mediaglobal.org/article/2009-02-27/the-death-of-philanthropy-as-we-know-it
Pakistan is the carpet trader — read on –
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At the UN conference, Swedish furniture company IKEA announced that it would donate $48 million to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to help improve conditions of children in some of India’s poorest regions. IKEA is UNICEF’s biggest donor.
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Some philanthropic endeavors in the private sector have been denounced as mere window dressing, promoted among businesses only after a scandal has occurred. In the past, IKEA was criticized for selling carpets produced in sweatshops in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
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Instead of viewing philanthropic activities as a chance to wipe the slate clean, the business community must see that helping the developing world is an investment. And it is the job of NGOs and non-profits to help sell this idea.
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The media craze over the emergence of philanthropy as a recent but important shift in values is the same old salt re-stirred — to get maximum tax write-offs in order to bequeath one’s wealth to one’s heirs, or as w/IKEA above, to cover its dirty carpet. Forced redistribution of wealth thru expropriation of land/riches is valued as contributing to the common good rather than valuing luxurious living among the wealthiest among us. To spread the wealth arrests/charges our mythic yeti of valuing life above materialism.
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KS, Stone, DHHL all continue to point fingers over Collapse of Makaha Deal
The school dismissed the notion that it was pulling out of the deal, arguing that it was Stone who failed to act by the agreed-upon deadline of June 30.
The announcement is the latest in a series of conflicting narratives proffered by Kamehameha Schools and Stone, who were to have collaborated with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on the ambitious project.
Kalama said the time lost pursuing the aborted project was “frustrating” but emphasized that the school was still going ahead with its larger and ongoing Ka Pua initiative to expand educational and social service resources on the Waianae Coast. (and snag some affordable housing credits?)
“Long before a site in Makaha was mentioned, we had investigated potential sites for our learning community on the Waianae Coast, and over the last week we have received suggestions about additional parcels of land that may be available between Kapolei and Kaena Point,” board Chairman Kalama said.
REALITY: Ka Pua Makaha: Multi-million dollar giveaway of DHHL assets disguised as “gift”
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Mormon demographics –
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrin_Hatch#Personal_life
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Candace of Mother’s Day homage –
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In praise of Laulima ‘Ena [the gathering glow], ergo Candace, on this Mother’s Day –
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
Romans 15:4 teaches us that when we justify ourselves, we reject God. Whenever we start thinking that we don’t deserve something bad that’s happening to us, we in effect accuse God of being unjust. It’s part of our human nature to look outside of ourselves for the blame, but it delays our reconciliation with God.
Please revisit and observe Biblical Job from the perspective of God’s sovereignty and Plan of Salvation, and the process of sanctification. Sanctification, or in part redemptive sufferance, brings things out of us to make us more holy in our walk in Faith — the Atonement.
The gold goes into the fire appearing perfect, and only when the fire is lit do the impurities show up and flow out. That is the perspective with which we should approach the Book of Job. It is sanctification ergo redemptive sufferance, not sin per se or lack of fellowship. To have a clear understanding of the book of Job is to have a clear understanding of God Himself. It is a most important Guide. I humbly ask you to consider this — for your name Candace and identity among sentients all — means glowing, of Greek origin, and in Hawai’i you are Laulima ‘Ena, the gathering glow, as God relies on and commissions God’s disciples to spread God’s Good News of Salvation via the Atonement. For Faith is NOT outcome dependent — we do not gamble in God — we do not bargain with God. No matter our outcome on earth, salvation is about unconditional faith and obedience, and endurance to the End of our mortal days.
Job 37-42 – “Would you discredit my Being? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” May God continue to bless you as you walk in His ways. Reprise Micah 6:8 — walk humblest, hand in hand with Thy Lord, merciful and welcoming.
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Female fecundity/childbirth are amazing phenomena which ensure propagation of species. Which is why human female child-bearing is worshipped in early ancient cave wall depictions/etc. The physically superior male defends the species, the female reproduces the species. No physical protection from the predators of ancient humankind, no procreation-childbirth. The male fights predators, the female reproduces the species. Because the male fights predators, the male is the boss of the species — at least traditionally. But in today’s society females are equal to males — over half of all females of child-bearing age are the sole breadwinners/heads of households — females do not take a back seat to males in authority/power. Thence, LDS Priesthood hegemony is antiquated male chauvinism, pure & simple. Change it — empower the female. She is equal to the male in responsibility and authority. Change it. Level the playing field. As with gay genes, homophobia [& male chauvinism] a fear-monger hot button issue which needs to be disposed of in our dustbin. Fear/fear/fear — terrible afflictions of the heart.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/parents-best-efforts-sometimes-fall-short-125285118.html
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I have three sons. It’s not unlikely that, someday, one, two or all three of these men will sit in a respective therapist’s office and complain about, among other things, me! And I already know two things about that day. First, they are almost certain to be correct. That is, the grievance will be real. Legitimate. Accurate. Second, should any of the three brothers come to me with the grievance, I know what I won’t say. I won’t say, “Well, I was doing the best I could.”
See, in any given moment, the “best I can do” might still really suck for you. Sometimes the best I can is still an observable injustice to another human being. I’m capable of hurting you while doing my best. For such it is with human beings.
Which is why I’ll say something else. Something like: “You remember that right. And it was wrong. And you deserved more than what you got from me. And I need your forgiveness.”
And, in the moment of that confession and forgiveness, both my son and I will be set free.
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Portuguese/Luso & African American Francis Cardozo [cousin of S.Ct. Justice] — our first African-American Statewide elected leader 1868 —
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He was a delegate to the 1868 South Carolina constitutional convention. As chair of the education committee, he advocated integrated public schools.
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When elected secretary of state in 1868, Cardozo became the first African American to hold a statewide office in the United States. He reformed the South Carolina Land Commission, which distributed land to former slaves.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Lewis_Cardozo#Political_career
from KingLit Ching born 1936 —
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Curtis, Denise,
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I just spoke with John Lemes, my Class of 1954 Punahou classmate. John was not aware that his video, “Dia de Portugal”(history of Hawaii Portuguese website below), had been circulated amongst our classmates. John’s study of the Lemes genealogy corresponds to my interest in Ching genealogy. We were very close in high school but hadn’t seen each other since my bachelor party in June of 1962 and challenged each other to broad jumping in the hall way. The “irony” of our relationship was that John’s dad Dr. Albert Lemes, competed with Hung Wai in broad jumping while they both attended UH. HW held the Territorial broad jump record at 22’7’ and the 220 LH record at 25.0. Johnny was one of the most talented HBs on the 1954 Punahou championship team with a 5.6 yard average but did not start because Alvin Harrington started. John’s older brother Albert asked me if I wanted to join the exclusive haole Outrigger Canoe Club he would sponsor me but I declined. The Lemes brothers were known for being fearless fights/brawls and John eventually became a very capable financial controller in the Bay Area. John and I were very close. Amazing how peoples’ lives can drift back and forth over a period of many years. Regards, KL
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John,
The “Dia de Portugal” material came from a Fran Lum post for the Punahou Class of 1954. I sent the material to my Brazilian business associates who now live in Florida. Regards, King Lit
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Renata, Juliana,
John Lemes is my high School classmate from Punahou School in Hawaii where President Obama also graduated. The Portuguese population in Hawaii is small but very influential and their ancestors migrated to Hawaii and the US from the Azores which are islands off he coast of Africa. Karen Lemes is John’s wife. Let me know how California Portuguese sounds compared to Brazilian Portuguese. Regards, KL Ching
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Dear Fran,
Dia de Portugal on June 11 in San Jose was a huge success. Between 8 and 10,000 people were estimated to have attended. The theme this year was “The Hawaiian Connection.” John’s research and writing prepared the 8 panels of the exhibit on the Portuguese migration from the Azores and Madeira to work on the sugar plantations and ultimate move of many Portuguese to California. He also prepared the narrative for the exhibit of ukuleles, as the Portuguese gift to the Hawaiian Islands, which includes three of his ukuleles. The exhibit can be viewed in the Portuguese Museum until June 2012. Our extended family also staffed a booth focused on Portuguese history in Hawaii and marched in the parade.
Thanks for all the classmate updates.
Karen Lemes
TRUTH IN ACCOUNTING’S FIFTY STATE STUDY UNCOVERS THE TRUE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE STATES
Only four U.S. states have sufficient assets to pay their debt and obligations related to pension and retirees’ healthcare
Chicago, (June 27, 2011) – Today, the Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA) announces completion of a significant, comprehensive study of all 50 states’ assets and liabilities, including pension and retirement healthcare obligations. The study determined that six states had a per taxpayer burden over $20,000: Connecticut ($41,200), Illinois ($26,800), Hawaii ($25,000), Kentucky ($23,800), Massachusetts ($20,100) and New Jersey ($34,600). The Taxpayer Burden represents the funds that will be needed to pay the commitments the state has already accumulated divided by the state’s taxpayers.
‘If governors and legislatures had truly balanced each state’s budget, no taxpayer’s financial burden would exist,’ said Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of the Institute. She continued, ‘A state budget is not balanced if past costs, including those for employees’ retirement benefits, are pushed into the future.’
The study found four states (Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming) have assets available to pay their debt and obligations related to pension and retirees’ healthcare.
The study reviewed each state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report to offset assets against liabilities. For the first time, a detailed analysis of pension and healthcare liabilities uncovered the states’ actual obligations. From these calculations, the Institute was able to determine the Taxpayer’s Burden. Results for each state are available at http://truthinaccounting.org.
Employee compensation packages include retirement benefits. A portion of these benefits is earned each period and should be included in the current budget as a portion of current employee compensation costs. Instead most states handle many of benefits on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis. This obligates future taxpayers to cover these past costs – without receiving any benefits or services.
‘Though 49 of the 50 states have constitutional or legal requirements to balance budgets, most states employ a variety of financial maneuvers to circumvent this requirement,’ said Roger Nelson, chair of IFTA and former vice chair of Ernst & Young. ‘The largest of these maneuvers is related to employee compensation.’
About the Institute for Truth in Accounting
The Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA) is dedicated to promoting honest, accurate, and transparent accounting at all levels of government and business. As a non-partisan, non-profit organization, the IFTA works to expose accounting deficiencies while promoting better, more accessible delivery of accurate government financial data-and, in turn, providing a foundation for more informed public policy. The IFTA provides its expertise to develop more effective accounting standards and deliver accurate government financial information to policymakers, opinion leaders, and citizens, so they can all work for a more secure financial future.
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Rev. Tom Brown –
Check it out:
http://www.hr95.org/brown,t.htm
http://www.thc-ministry.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7948
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/general-420-talk/38193-rev-tom-brown.html
One Love revtombrown
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Zahn#Biography
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Hawai’i County procurement [purchasing agent] rife with loopholes/graft
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Council chair Dom Yagong raised the question of contract “mark-ups” which take a sizeable chunk out of our public coffers. Our Procurement Code HRS Sec. 103D-501 addresses modifications, but it is so broad/general in wording that it leaves tremendous opportunity for abuse. Which is why Dominic wants to curb excessive government spending.
The Procurement Code competitive bidding wording also is overbroad and ripe for abuse, not to mention its myriad exceptions/allowances for non-bid “golden eggs” & sole source purchases This Goose/Us is so dissipated that it can’t lay golden eggs anymore for professionals/consultants/engineers/architects/etc. Our Procurement Code bans small purchase serial order/parceling, but it also is overbroad. Its threshholds are $100Gs for goods/services, & $250Gs for construction, and such “small” buys wiggle much to even more laxer requisites.
Hawai’i County legislative auditor Colleen Schrandt born 1957 is not dynamic like State counterpart Marion Higa, Marion being a tenacious fighter who relishes the fray & the publicity. Colleen is our ablest non-elected government official, but Colleen doesn’t “close the deal” like Marion does, because of their opposite personalities. Marion would’ve eaten abusive Donald Ikeda for breakfast at our County Council’s 12/15/10 meeting in Kona, whereas ever-courteous Colleen simply took Donald’s punches & winced thruout. Nonetheless, Colleen is my Joan of Ark, because just to step into the ring to take Ikeda’s punches is quite a marvel in itself — Colleen is one tough cookie, I tell you. Maybe it’s even tougher to take a punch like Colleen does than to throw many punches, like ferocious Marion Higa does. For my mac nuts, I choose a Marion Higa over Colleen any day of the week, though on an intimate personal level, Colleen is Jesus’ silent disciple — my alltime hero is Colleen, hands down!! Yeah, I confess, Colleen is eye candy vs. Marion’s salty ling hi moi.
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If we ever plug up our porous loopholes in our County Procurement Code, we could shave off a third of our annual budget, not to mention shaving off another third via responsible reductions in operational costs & in fair hiring practices [Japanese Hilo High connected alumni mooch off of payroll & act entitled to their jobs w/no empathy for constituents].
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from an astute Mayor Kenoi observer —
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There was no “11th hour” proposal by the County Council. The County Council only got involved with their own proposal of a non-binding resolution to Kenoi when the private contractor, who met with the mayor about the MRF proposal, were not having their calls returned from Kenoi over a 5 month period even though Kenoi promised them he would get back to them.
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Silent majority doesn’t like “fancy pants” like Mayor Billy Kenoi.
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from astute government observer “Thomas” —
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We are looking at reducing the county budget – here is a place to cut but guess who still is advocated for and still has stock in HELCO………..Warren Lee……..I would bet with a good energy conservation plan we could reduce this by 10 or 15 percent at least……examples would be lighting a policy that lights are not left on in areas that are not in use and not allowing people like Shikuma and Riley to use our electricity for personal business……..Water heating, refrigeration, street and event lighting (using more efficient and passive lighting when renovating or replacing or designing)……….We are looking to cut……Here is 9.3 million we should be looking at and you can bet Warren Lee thus Billy are not going to willingly take that money away from HELCO.
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http://baselinescenario.com/2011/06/27/what-is-this-washington/?utm_source=feedburner
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Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:17 PM PDT
By James Kwak
(Warning: Very elementary post ahead. Most of you probably know all this already.)
Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican Leader, quoted in Bloomberg: “We have seen the consequences of giving Washington a blank check. My message to the president is simple: It’s time for Washington to focus on fixing itself. It’s time Washington take the hit, not the taxpayers.”
That sounds good (if you don’t like “Washington,” that is), but what does it mean? McConnell wants people to think that their tax dollars go to feed some animal named “Washington,” and therefore our budget problems can be solved by simply feeding Washington less — without “taxpayers” taking the hit.
That might be true if “Washington” simply consumed money for its own sake, but the problem is that most of the federal budget isn’t consumed by the federal government.
Of the $3.8 trillion in outlays in President Obama’s proposed FY 2012 budget, more than half comes in one door and immediately goes out another door back to ordinary people, the vast majority of whom are or were previously taxpayers. $742 billion gets paid out in unrestricted cash by Social Security; another $762 billion goes to pay for people’s health care expenses. Other entitlement programs such as retirement benefits for federal employees (civilian and military), food stamps, and unemployment insurance add up to another $716 billion.* There’s no way to reduce this spending without directly hurting “taxpayers.” You can argue that some of these programs should be eliminated, but you can’t argue that you can eliminate those programs without hurting ordinary people.
Another $207 billion goes to pay interest on the outstanding debt. There’s no way to reduce this spending without triggering a massive financial crisis, which would ordinarily be unthinkable.
Of the rest, almost two-thirds goes to pay for national security. Mitch McConnell might be open to cuts in defense spending, although I doubt that he’s come out and said so.
That leaves only $507 billion for discretionary, non-security programs. To start off with, this is less than a third of the projected 2011 deficit, so even if you think that all of it is money wasted on bureaucrats who do nothing, you still can’t balance the budget on their backs. (And besides, they are “taxpayers,” too — so shutting down the government is just a way of concentrating the pain on federal government employees.) And even there, a lot of that $507 billion simply flows right out to ordinary people (not federal employees): educational grants through the Department of Education, low-income housing vouchers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, farm subsidies through the Department of Agriculture, and so on.
So what is “Washington”? You might legitimately believe that the Environmental Protection Agency provides no value to society and should be entirely eliminated; I don’t, but at least that position is logical. But that would only save you $10 billion. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms? $1 billion. You can also believe that some of the services provided by the government could be provided more cheaply by the private sector; but even if the government stopped providing those services, you would still have to pay someone something for them. The truth is, there is no animal named “Washington” that eats money. Most of what Washington does (in dollar terms) is write checks to people, so reducing a dollar of Washington’s spending generally takes a dollar, or close to a dollar, out of someone’s pocket.
And the Republicans know this. Much as they would love to kill EPA, ATF, CFPB, and the like, they know that is peanuts. That’s why Kevin McCarthy, the third-leading Republican in the House, “insisted that limits on Medicare must also be included in a bipartisan deal,” according to the same Bloomberg article. It’s very clear that “taxpayers” — in this case, Medicare recipients — are going to get hurt in any budget-cutting deal. The only question is which ones.
Saying “it’s time Washington take the hit, not taxpayers,” is not the only part of the Republican position that flies in the face of logic. The other part is the refusal to consider tax increases, especially when they are defined to include all revenue increases.
According to Bloomberg, Eric Cantor walked out of debt negotiations because he opposed administration revenue-raising proposals such as eliminating last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting for inventory costs and ending subsidies for oil and gas companies. Now, you may or may not think that subsidies to oil and gas companies are good policy (theoretically, they promote exploration, which theoretically reduces our dependence on foreign sources). But your willingness to consider eliminating such subsidies should not depend on whether those subsidies are effected as cash payments by the government or as loopholes in the tax code.
This, of course, is the old tax expenditure issue. Anything the government can do by spending, it can also do (though perhaps not as efficiently) by granting a tax exemption. By Cantor’s logic, if the government were awarding cash bonuses to oil companies, he would be open to eliminating those bonuses; but since instead the government awards tax goodies (such as accelerated deductions) to oil companies, those goodies must be off the table.
It bears repeating that this is not an issue of what is or is not good policy. You could say the same thing about the subsidy for dependent care: because it’s implemented as a tax credit instead of as a spending program, it’s off limits to the House Republicans. Whatever your views are on the actual policies, it’s absurd to base your deficit-cutting strategy on whether they are labeled as spending programs or as tax goodies.
But it’s also absurd to think that the federal government exists independently from the American people. Really it’s a kind of fetishism: in Wikipedia’s words, “the attribution of inherent value or powers to an object.” Apparently some people have hated the government so long that it has become a kind of magical totem in their minds.
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Frankie Malendres allegedly killed early mob boss Harold “Biggie” Chan. Malendres himself was shot/killed in prison allegedly for killing a good guy. Saney Kim is Leilani Castro’s hubby who is suspected of killing her [in a posh Kona hotel room], Saney brother of Andy/Phil Kim, Saney mu’umu’u legs for car bombing vs. him. Saney apparently not brother of Earl Kim.
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Great sage Steven Kalas born 1957 –
If someone wants to learn better “people skills” — on the job, in friendship, family, or romance — I would tell them to ask more questions. Sincere inquiry is quite flattering to most people. It is an act of hospitality. A welcome. People like to talk about themselves.
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Women in therapy often complain about men’s “communication skills.” From there follows the ready conclusion that men don’t know how to communicate. Men are Communication Doofwads. It’s not true. There generally are only two reasons men don’t communicate: 1) they don’t want to talk to you, and 2) you might not be asking the right question.
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“Tell me about your day, dear,” she asks, only to get murmurs, grunts, shrugs, or even impatience and irritation. For many women, having a conversation with their man is like exhaustedly pumping the rusty, reluctant handle in a well house. So, here’s a secret about most men: Men love being asked direct questions. Conversely, men often are befuddled — and sometimes irritated — at the open-ended, narrative and process way many women navigate relationships. “Tell me about your day” is too open-ended. “How was your day?” often will be heard and answered literally: “Fine.” So try this: “Do you respect your boss?” Or, “What’s the most personally satisfying part of your work?” Or, “Can we spend time together tonight?”
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Guys will run at the mouth over questions like that.
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Women, too, treasure inquiry, and perhaps their favorite is “remembered inquiry.” When a woman tells her man about some important event in her day, that man does well to remember that he was told, and then to initiate later an inquiry about the event: “How did your meeting go?” Watch her face when you ask that. It’s like handing her a bag of gold.
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Some religious leaders once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus proceeded to tell the story of “The Good Samaritan,” capping the tale with “So I ask you, which of these was a neighbor to the man?”
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Wow. Jesus’ story doesn’t answer their question; rather, the story challenges their question, changes it from “Who is my neighbor” to “To whom are you a neighbor?” And just like that their universe was an expanded place.
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Therapeutic query is an art form. You can tell when you’ve done it right, because of the sudden silence, the slightly stunned expression on the patient’s face.
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The right question, and only if it is the right question, derails old ways of seeing self and the world.
My favorite compliment from someone addressed is unintended, more an observation: “That’s a really good question.”
If you want to change your life, then change your questions.
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Ethos entail a moral economy balanced by duty towards those who lack means or who cannot perform such good. Ethos also entail taking the blame for something in order to solve an issue or save someone else. These are Christ’s examples of the right intent/heart, per Romans 12:1.
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Psalm 22:14-15 —
Christ was ground in body and spirit. In this case, He was bruised so badly He was barely recognizable as a man (Isaiah 52:14) and was so sapped of strength that He could not bear His cross of crucifixion alone. Another was compelled to bear it for Him because Jesus was already figuratively ground and ready to be put on the altar.
The lesson for us is that service to our fellow man is self-surrender and self-sacrifice. The nearer our service approaches His degree of self-sacrificing service the more we will resemble what happened to Him.
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Homer’s Iliad — in Book XII, the Trojan prince Sarpedon delivers a famous speech in which he urges his comrade Glaucus to fight with him in the front ranks of battle. In Pope’s translation, Sarpedon exhorts Glaucus thus: “’Tis ours, the dignity they give to grace / The first in valour, as the first in place; / That when with wondering eyes our martial bands / Behold our deeds transcending our commands, / Such, they may cry, deserve the sovereign state, / Whom those that envy dare not imitate!”
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In “Le Lys dans la vallée”, written in 1835 and published in 1836, Honoré de Balzac recommends certain standards of behaviour to a young man, concluding: “Everything I have just told you can be summarized by an old word: noblesse oblige!” His advice had included comments like “others will respect you for detesting people who have done detestable things,” but nothing about generosity or benevolence. He later includes the exhortation that a noble person performs services for others not for gain or recognition, but simply because it was the right thing to do.
It was also recorded in an 1837 letter from F. A. Kemble: “To be sure, if noblesse oblige, royalty must do so still more.”
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The phrase noblesse oblige is used as the motto for the National Honor Society, which cites its purpose is to convey “fulfilling their obligations through service to others.”
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William Faulkner uses the term noblesse oblige many times in his novels and short stories, including the famous The Sound and the Fury” and “A Rose for Emily.”
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In the Disney movie Mary Poppins, Mr. Banks sings a song titled “The Life I Lead” with the lyrics: “I treat my subjects | servants, children, wife | With a firm but gentle hand | Noblesse oblige!”
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In 2009, an anime titled Higashi no Eden or Eden of the East, uses the term to identify the phones that the main character uses. Those who have the Noblesse oblige phones, Seleção, are supposed to use them to help bring about stability to Japan in whatever manner they wish. They are also supposed to keep in mind Noblesse Oblige or they may be removed from the “game.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige#History_and_examples
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The spiritual warrior can be described as an archetype character on a journey for self discovery to benefit others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior_code#Spiritual_warrior
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Carnegie preached that ostentatious living and amassing private treasures are wrong. He praised the high British taxes on the estates of dead millionaires, remarking that “By taxing estates heavily at death the State marks its condemnation of the selfish millionaire’s unworthy life. It is desirable that nations should go much further in this direction.” Carnegie said that in bettering society and people here on earth, one would be rewarded at the gates of Paradise. Money should not be wasted on frivolous expenditure. In this Carnegie represented a captain of industry who had risen to power by his own hand and refused to worship wealth.
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The Giving Pledge, an agreement among 55 billionaires, started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, to donate half of their fortunes during their lifetimes.
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On Oscar nite, almost every winner thanks a life partner, but no one does it more eloquently than supporting actor winner Christian Bale, who calls his wife “my mast through the storms of life.” Ohhh so sweet. No “ouch” here!
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“Is my heart too much for you to bear?”
To paraphrase palpable Emily Dickinson….
The mind is so near that it does not see distinctly. But the heart sharpens vision with life. Is my heart too much to bear?
Aloha always, –Curtis
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giKXKNqDaUM&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLf8iupvL34&feature=related
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because you pray for your adult daughter’s redemption, and you take on such prayer for redemption as your comfort/solace. Such comfort/solace are God’s Grace to you, and in this sense, such Grace is your heavenly burden, something you take on willingly and with unrequited love for your daughter’s wellbeing. I know that the word burden has a negative meaning, but not in relation to prayer. Aloha, –Curt
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Like the U.S. today, Japan 25 yrs. ago enjoyed the false prosperity of a financial bubble reinforced by a housing bubble. When the market crashed over 20 yrs. ago, Japan’s crooked Finance Ministry [under auspices of Tokyo’s financial elite plunderers] caused a decade-long stagflation. Even zero interest rates by the Bank of Japan failed to jump start Japan’s economy. Rife w/corruption/insider trading, Japan, like America, slid bigtime, even amidt global robustness — as w/President Obama’s hamartia [miscue after miscue from a fallen idol/hero] — Japan’s government failed to act!
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LBJ is a great far cry from President Obama’s incessant urge to seek common ground, to the abject detriment of what should be his only objective, protection of the American people. LBJ made his reputation as a southwestern moderate, a bridge between the northern liberals & the Deep South Dixiecrats. LBJ resolved that his legacy would redeem the promise of Lincoln — to wipe out the racist social order in the South via 3 landmark civil rights acts. President Obama has chosen the conventional path of appeasing coalitions — the status quo, not being decisive-in the fray with a dominant defining leadership signature. Crony capitalism is today’s result.
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Our oligarchy Big 5 slushed their collective profits into
genesis Bishop Trust [1st Haw’n Bank its front] & later Haw’n Trust
[Bank of Hawai’i its front], to move money/capital around in congruous/
streamlined fashion. Of course, had our Feds busted our obvious
chokehold of Big 5 over all aspects of our lives/culture via Sherman
anti-trust act [busted Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust — holding
company of some 50 mega-meta-corporations] — nerve centers
Bishop/Haw’n Trust would’ve been liquidated/dismantled. Anyway,
to illustrate our haole superiority complex, Statesider Fred Merrill came to lead Haw’n Trust pre-WWII, & got chummy w/Big 5 nemeses Chinn Ho [Dean Witter rep]/Judge William Heen/1st Chinese top politico Ernie Kai/local solon Hiram Fong — but Haw’n Trust degenerate Pete McLean scolded outsider Merrill — “Don’t associate with those people at Wo Fat Restaurant! We don’t do this around here!! And we select only among our [Big 5] families to head our companies — you’re not one of us, but keep your mind on business, & someday you might be — unless you wanna’ blow it all by meeting with those Chinese!!” Whoa!! Bill Heen, old enough to be daddy to youngsters Kai/Chinn Ho/Hiram Fong born 1905/1904/1906 respectively, led these titans of Chinatown, understudied by Heen’s junior partner Kai, w/Chinn Ho & Hiram Fong simply dutiful listeners. The final member Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 was a Christian theologian & rankled vs. these mega Chinese capitalists, though Hung Wai himself became a millionaire after WWII [initial housing developer simultaneously w/Kukuihaele’s Ruddy Tongg-
Kapa’au KJ Luke]. Of course, we know Hiram Fong’s nephew thru Hiram’s wife Ellen — Wadsworth Yee — Hiram’s Grand Pacific Life Ins. 1950s, Yee the consummate ladies’ man like antecedent Hung Wai. Hung Wai’s baby brother Hung Wo Ching 1912-1996 was half a generation behind Hung Wai’s gang/peers — Hung Wo became a multi-millionaire investor/developer & became Jack Burns’ chief financier in politics, w/distant kin Clarence Ching 1912-1985 as Burns’ campaign treasurer. Chinn Ho also bankrolled Burns, & Burns beseeched Chinn Ho’s sweet son Stuart to be a solon — which Stuart did [Stuart didn’t make it into Punahou so went to ‘Iolani — Stuart smart as ever but empathized w/the salt of the earth] — & Stuart got out because in effect Stuart was trying to please Stu’s dad. Stuart a good guy & chums w/KingLit Ching born 1936, Rev. Hung Wai Ching’s son — KingLit Harvard MBA like KJ Luke, but KingLit should’ve been Hollywood — my knight in shining armor, or my Bruce Lee!!
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Ancient enmity between cultural overlord China & forsaken Japan rubbed raw here in Hawai’i, with Pastor Hung Wai Ching becoming a pariah among his fellow Chinese, especially those of his former Beretania St. Chinese Church [Hiram Fong’s church], from whom he broke away some 76 yrs. ago [& started today’s current Community Church now on Nu’uanu Ave., originally located in Emma tenements in an abandoned Chinese schoolhouse]. Especially his older immigrant brethren could not figure out why Hung Wai was helping China’s mortal enemy/stepchild Japan. But when you look at Hung Wai, Hung Wai dived into where the need was greatest/repression was most extreme, as vs. our buddaheads pre- & during WWII. Hung Wai also helped out Pinoy [Kalihi-Palama]/Puerto Ricans [Houghtailing St. district/Palama]/Koreans [Palama]/Hawaiians [Papakolea/Kaka’ako], not to mention his fellow Chinese in impoverished Chinatown & Emmaville, where he grew up. Watch when Hung walked thru Chinatown. He could switch language from Chinese to Ilocano-Tagalog-Visayan to Spanish to Korean to our original native/universal tongue a century ago, Hawaiian. Hung Wai, unlike his fellow insular/individualist Chinese, was a man for all seasons, who suffered fools gladly, knowing his mission for Jesus [everybody’s equal before God] which steeled him to the end. Why such obsession with Japanese? Because Japanese were Hung Wai’s favorite targets for assaults/theft/vandalism when Hung Wai was his Emmaville street tough/gang leader [huge for Chinese, nearly 6 feet]. Yes, overcompensation/making up. Psychology. Hung Wai wasn’t gonna let society do in the oppressed ethnicities on his time, never. And it didn’t happen on his watch. Love everlasting, –Curt
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Contrary to popular opinion, lower class taverns 3 centuries ago were the 1st racially integrated public facilities in America, not to mention sexually liberated w/female tavern owners [genteel men sites banned non-rich whites/women]. “Animal passions” ergo hormonal liberties presaged our American revolution as well as our Civil War. ”Amalgamation” [mixed breed progeny] nearly won the White House but for VP Richard Johnson’s [under President Martin Van Buren] refusal to deny the “monstrous rumor” about his mullatto mistress w/whom he had 2 children. Never mind Strom Thurmond’s collossal hypocrisy in the last century. Drunken workers created our weekend, prostitutes started women’s lib [long before proper lady Gloria Steinem] & gave us birth control w/their “barbaric savages” [unassimilated immigrants], just as liberated drag queens engaged in redemptive suffering to give us Gay Liberation. Sainted Madiba [tribal reverence] Nelson Mandela’s immense legacies are exemplified in the context of his natural nature/character — “I came out mature” is Mandela’s epiphany after 27 yrs. in prison [age 44 to 71], & this senior citizen went on to defy that aging is a death sentence. President Obama’s “propeller heads” economic team of treasury looters Summers/Geithner et al get upended by today’s Lincoln Steffens Gonzo Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Steffens I didn’t know that Irish teague is derogatory, in that we have Irish Teague ohana here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taig
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Our greatest First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt refrained her husband’s funeral in impelling his legacy — When FDR died in 1945 a crowd surged down Constitution Ave. to view his funeral cortege — a man collapsed to the ground in grief. After helping the man up, the samaritan asked him, “Did you know the President?” As the fallen man regained his composure, he intoned, “No, but he knew me.” Wow!! Populist referendum!
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Aaron Chung born 1958 was our prescient Council member who wanted to settle maligned police officers’ case vs. County [Guy Paul rigged promotions], but was overruled by majority who staked out a jury trial result — which resulted in the largest ever jury award vs. Hawai’i County, Michael Green atty for plaintiffs.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/making-peace-with-worst-case-scenario-provides-clarity-120563409.html
Your loved one dies, and you feel responsible for his/her death –
Your heart would be forever broken, yes, but could you bear that broken heart without the added hell of self-recrimination? Without saying that you were to blame for his/her suffering?
It might sound like a terrible, insensitive question to ask. But I ask it because I think the question forces an important clarity, and from that clarity, choices and hope. Yes, hope. Authentic hope is not the same as wishful thinking. The only authentic hope comes from embracing life as life is. The only hope worth having emerges from an abject surrender to immutable reality. And surely one such reality is that no one, in the end, can be responsible for another’s life choices. Not the good ones, or the bad. Said another way, I can’t be useful to anyone until and unless I’m clear about that which I’m helpless. Being clear about what I can’t do sets me free to turn my energies to what I can do.
Let’s say you’re in a terrible fight with a loved one — friend, family, mate. You’re not on speaking terms. It feels right to shun the loved one. It feels like justice, not to mention self-protection. So, imagine: The last conversation you had with this person is the last one you’ll ever have. See how a clarity of values suddenly sharpens focus? However painful is this conflict, would it be worth that? It better be, because forever is a long, long time.
When I can make peace with the worst case scenario, it seems more likely I have done what needed to be done. And perhaps more likely that I might have even done the right thing.
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Lee Woofenden on eternal bliss in marriage & family –
No marriage in heaven is based on a misunderstanding of a single statement of Jesus recorded in the Gospels of Matthew [22:30], Mark [12:25], and Luke [20:35]: “In the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” These passages are not talking about the state of being married, but about the act of getting married. Those who think these sayings of Jesus apply to the state of being married aren’t paying attention to what Jesus said a little earlier in Matthew, at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let humans not separate. [Matthew 19:4-6] Now, the things that God does are not temporary, but eternal [Ecclesiastes 3:14]. So if God created male and female, and joined them together into one, then marriage is not merely a temporary joining that lasts for our lifetime here on earth only, but an eternal union that lasts forever in heaven. This is assuming, of course, that a particular marriage is a relationship that was truly made by God, and not a mismatch made by human beings. In the Bible heaven is often compared to a marriage. And of course, this refers to the marriage of the Lord with the church. But we humans, created in the image and likeness of God, also have in our own individual relationships a likeness of that eternal union of Christ and his bride, the church: we have the marriage relationship of a man and a woman. And like the marriage of Christ and the church, the marriage of man and woman is also eternal. Being “like the angels in heaven” means being married, since in heaven, a married couple is not called two angels, but one angel. As taught throughout the Scriptures, the whole atmosphere of heaven is an atmosphere of marriage! And this teaching that we will spend eternity with the person we love most in a heavenly, God-given marriage – indeed is one of the precious gems of genuine Christianity. Marriage Love, marriage as an eternal, spiritual union.
The believer whom God granted with happiness and eternal living in Paradise – will find all whom he/she loved — who also were granted with eternal Paradise — around him/her in heaven — spouse, children, parents, etc. In Paradise there is no sorrow nor grief.
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Dispel break-up and separation of families into eternity
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Angels are not a separate race of created beings – they are simply people who have lived in this life previously and have chosen to love God and to love their neighbor. Every time we engage in an act of kindness for another individual, without selfish regard to our own interest, we are being an “angel-in-training.”
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The spiritual bonding is the true connection. In heaven re-marriages in spiritual bonding are recognized as to each bond and true connection. This is not polyandry/polygyny but divine recognition of two perfect beings in heaven in a spiritual bond, separate and apart from the other marriages in such perfect state of Grace. Or, as Twain said, “Against the assault of laughter [joy], nothing can stand!”
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I desire that gays too will unite with the one of each’s heart’s desire and enjoy a true connection. It is the joining of inner, spiritual bonds that make a true marriage/conjugal metaphysic of the Divine. A divine choice is my soulmate, not a false idol of the profane/sentient statement of marriage by a prejudiced reactionary right winger. That bond never died and can never die for we were spiritually married and continue that relationship into eternity. Pray tell for you to embrace comfort and peace, as such couples verily and truly suffuse and breathe permanence, and their eternal happiness is based on this conjugal metaphysic of the Divine. For all these reasons they no longer are two but one person, that is, one flesh. And in heaven and to all spiritual eyes it is crystal clear that they shall not be torn apart by either one’s death, and such spirit shall reunite with the other and love each other more tenderly than before because they are in a state of perfect union in heaven. Such perfect union invokes ecumenical refrain and is inclusive and welcoming in Providence’s perfect state.
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Schooling Not Gauge Of Life Learning
by Curtis Narimatsu
Auto tycoon/GM’s Jim Roche 1906-2004 never went to college because his dad died young. Haberdasher hat-wearer Harry S. Truman never went to college, yet he was the epitome of Common Sense [practical actions]. Schooling is no gauge of intelligence. Jack Burns barely finished St. Louis High, & as a 21 yr. old flunkie who mooched off his mama/drank like no tomorrow, & smooched w/Army girls while showing off his hoops moves. Gang, there is a heaven/hope springs eternal! My dad never even finished junior high. But Dad would listen to merits/demerits of line-item veto over budget appropriations [checks & balances/separation of power b/n executive/legislative branch]. Though line-item veto used by most state governors [who also choose not to release monies if legislators override governors’ veto], U.S. Supreme Court struck down Congressional authorization of line item veto to President on ground that U.S. President [Clinton] usurped legislative sovereignty/authority. Hell, there was no high school for Scrub Tanaka 1915-2006 to attend! A-hole personality Isamu Kanekuni born 1921 knows political science better than poli-sci professors. It’s about passion/immersion, not diplomas. Nope, Isamu never went to college. One common thing about the foregoing self-educated men — they don’t waste their breath/time tolerating small talk [who did you bump into at the supermarket today? Did you have constipation this morning?]. You see distinctly the small talk noiseboxes — the minute they get thrown off by your deflection of their nonsense, they immediately clam up like indian wooden statue outside a saloon. Because suddenly, focus is not on their silly topics anymore. And then when they’re forced to speak substantively, their pace of enunciation slows to a crawl — because it’s not about them or their topic anymore — it’s about anything but them, which disinterests these talking heads to da bone. Luso-Portuguese faladoo/talking head minus/negative exemplars include Wil Souza/unrelated J.R. Souza/Frank De Luz/Butch Castro.
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Some rich folks [money is god Hilo’s Robert Kiyosaki born 1947 non-graduate hero list headed by Apple founder Steve Jobs] didn’t graduate from school — Henry Ford/Thomas Edison/Bill Gates/Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook]/Rich Branson [Virgin]/Walt Disney.
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Kiyosaki has this to say about financial learning — [his 2011 book Unfair Advantage] — what schools don’t teach about money — [Merrill Lynch] If you lost money, why would you give them more money? AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are still in serious trouble. Even Warren Buffett, reportedly the world’s richest and smartest investor, and his firm Berkshire Hathaway took substantial losses in the [2008] crisis. It fact, it was the Moody’s ratings agency, an agency he controls, that issued AAA ratings to subprime mortgages and sold these toxic mortgages, aka derivatives, to governments, pension funds, and investors throughout the world. Selling subprime debt packaged as AAA prime debt is also known as fraud. Buffett’s firm was instrumental in triggering this global crisis, yet the world still looks to Warren for fatherly investment advice. On top of that, the companies he controls (Wells fargo, American Express, General Electric, and Goldman Sachs) received billions in taxpayer bailout money after the crash. Is this Warren Buffett’s real secret to being the world’s smartest investor?
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Boy, Buffett’s seeming indifference to Kiyosaki got Kiyosaki’s craw.
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Opportunities to reduce taxes for business owners of 500+ employees & for investors [passive income] are almost unlimited — almost all expenses are deductible. Big business owners, unlike small business owners who have few tax breaks [as do regular paycheck employees who pay the most taxes proportionately vs. small business owners], invest in equipment/real estate, just as investors esp. real estate investors invest in the economy to create jobs/housing/opportunities for more investments — thence huge tax breaks for big business/investors. But because drilling for oil is risky, such investments only are available to accredited investors.
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Employer exemplars are Jack Welch of GE & Meg Whitman of eBay. Big business exemplars are Steve Jobs of Apple/Rich Branson of Virgin/Sergey Brin of Google. Investor exemplars are John Bogle of Vanguard Funds/George Soros of Quantum Funds [marijuana legalization proponent].
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What folks do in the privacy of their bedroom is their business, not ours, per Sempai. Our 1998 Hawai’i Constitutional Amendment says that our legislature can decree that marriage is between a man and a woman. It does not prohibit
same sex marriage, nor civil unions, nor domestic partnerships. It is up to our legislature to steer our course . Our
Constitutional Amendment nearly going on 15 yrs. ago might not appeal to our voters today, inasmuch many of these
oldtime voters have passed away. In our current era of tolerance and inclusion, same sex marriage/civil unions might
be acceptable, such that wingnuts/right-wingers might have to make water go uphill to ban same-sex marriage/civil unions.
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Kohala aficionado Michael Dell is Jewish
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dell#Criticism
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Political contributions
In 2004, Susan and Michael Dell were among 53 contributors of $250,000 (the maximum legal donation) to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.
Criticism
In the April 2011 issue of Mother Jones, a timeline of Michael Dell’s life is included in the article ‘American Magnate: Michael Dell: How a homegrown geek outsourced, downsized, and tax-breaked his way to the top.’ The article juxtaposes the CEO’s spending on luxurious homes and private jet travel with his pursuit of tax breaks and tax holidays and Dell Computer‘s outsourcing of jobs overseas.
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It’s amazing, these kids come out of nowhere and do a whole new spin on old favorites — ningen samazama/everyone’s unique [Nippon] –
These inexplicably imaginative kids make oldsters proud!! Social media/You Tube expose our youngsters to other talent/imaginative souls, and such connections foster diversity/creativity. Sinatra’s genre exploded with talent because of the new contraption of radio. Music is audible, so radio far outdid TV a generation later, though the Beatles belie/contra such notion. Today’s kids are so much better than my TV generation half a century ago. I’m not a dyed in the wool progressive [that the New always outdoes the Old], inasmuch operatic classics a century ago still resonate with meta coda superiority today [deprivation of audible stimulation also fosters keen compelled finest artistry — a la music teachers as gods to music-starved pupils]. Especially in Hawaiian music, Charles E. King & Helen Desha Beamer veritably are the highest pantheon in musicology even today.
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Ohhhhh Darling, give it to me, Latina Montero & prodigies –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzic_V5WYdw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9F3pWtnH1U&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5XY9PvUyS8
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V03f74P4_o&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Urs4URuTk&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfEqdhvZItM&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTx2kWvkFPo&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbad22CKlB4&feature=related
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Beautiful Jackie Wilson’s incredible live load [the classiest/smoothest vocalist ever] —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdblFSgbGkI
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You want to experience pedagogy? Watch Paul McCartney’s casual cuff demeanor, which covers for a keen musical soul.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuEFwOq9hM0
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Mariah Carey’s sizzling nature —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA8UHeoYHQM
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Vince & the Valiants’ same title but different passionate tune — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1VkMBi9vvw
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Patsy Cline incarnate —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHCWQAOSIGI
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Give it to me, Motorhead & prodigies –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4SwhP65-Lc&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFoEotND4k8&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu247GKesyg&feature=fvwrel
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJBaLcZprZE
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o280XD_UIJo&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG5hluhCtfQ&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iehhNUr754I&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMFgL6737mw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOqLsl96FwU&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMAb9SU6jzc&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHk1081Unmk&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Mt9EoISQw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LWCpRuKq38
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ageuALSzZN8&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E7SENxpw4Q&feature=related
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give’m up for rock n roll — let it roll, baby!! [Roadhouse Blues made famous by Jim Morrison’s Doors]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r9FRiXgzaU
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Lennon & McCartney lost their mothers as youngsters — they needed strong mother figures, & these emotions showed thru their beautiful music.
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Vintage Lennon —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8b7OUZhK7s
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Vintage McCartney —
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my favorite Elvis tune —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AyQb-Gy41o
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melodic Harrison —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6zd77VtipQ&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9IemLC4Onw&feature=related
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like Asian melodies/beats which uptempo the trail/endline, here is an atypical Western tune — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCuTrfTfGd0&feature=related
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/science/19brain.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
To Tug Hearts, Music First Must Tickle the Neurons
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“Technique is something you use to make your ideas listenable,” Jazz pianist great Oscar Peterson once told jazz writer Len Lyons. “You learn to play the instrument so you have a musical vocabulary, and you practice to get your technique to the point you need to express yourself, depending on how heavy your ideas are.” Ray Charles said of Oscar, “Oscar Peterson is a mother-fu**ing piano player!!” Where is the “Epic” key to bang, Ray?!!
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Among the 20th century’s greatest classical pianists Svia Pichter
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sviatoslav_Richter#Approach_to_performance
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Approach to performance
Richter explained his approach to performance as follows: “The interpreter is really an executant, carrying out the composer’s intentions to the letter. He doesn’t add anything that isn’t already in the work. If he is talented, he allows us to glimpse the truth of the work that is in itself a thing of genius and that is reflected in him. He shouldn’t dominate the music, but should dissolve into it.” Or, similarly: “I am not a complete idiot, but whether from weakness or laziness have no talent for thinking. I know only how to reflect: I am a mirror . . . Logic does not exist for me. I float on the waves of art and life and never really know how to distinguish what belongs to the one or the other or what is common to both. Life unfolds for me like a theatre presenting a sequence of somewhat unreal sentiments; while the things of art are real to me and go straight to my heart.”
Richter’s belief that musicians should “carry … out the composer’s intentions to the letter,” led him to be critical of others and, most often, himself. After attending a recital of Murray Perahia, where Perahia performed Chopin’s Third Piano Sonata without observing the first movement repeat, Richter asked him backstage to explain the omission. Similarly, after Richter realized that he had been playing a wrong note in Bach’s Italian Concerto for decades, he insisted that the following disclaimer/apology be printed on a CD containing a performance thereof: “Just now Sviatoslav Richter realized, much to his regret, that he always made a mistake in the third measure before the end of the second part of the ‘Italian Concerto’. As a matter of fact, through forty years — and no musician or technician ever pointed it out to him — he played ‘F-sharp’ rather than ‘F’. The same mistake can be found in the previous recording made by Maestro Richter in the fifties.”
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pioneer all-female rock band & our 1st Filipino female rockers “Fanny” –
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EEsFZw_zEE&feature=related
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Millington
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Beautiful Mama Cass — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_WlLYBfL-k
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& melodic ELO — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IlfCsj7gWQ&feature=related
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Matchbox song covers/reduxes —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpaKZNnZhow
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_2wCkUjvVU
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vonQ3qy1k
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsHzOfk0p-g&feature=related
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Inspring message from Facebook —
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http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/facebook-ipo-letter/
In a letter to potential shareholders within the document, Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook “was built to accomplish a social mission” and said the company was inspired by technologies such as the printing press and television, which “make the world more open and connected.” He also stressed that “we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”
Of course, this makes Facebook sound like it’s set out to deliver presents and free education to underprivileged children. Obviously, the goodwill note the letter strikes isn’t the whole picture — Facebook brought in $1 billion in profits last year. But it’s interesting to see how Zuckerberg, and what was likely a team of public relations professionals, define the company’s mission.
Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission — to make the world more open and connected.
We think it’s important that everyone who invests in Facebook understands what this mission means to us, how we make decisions and why we do the things we do. I will try to outline our approach in this letter.
At Facebook, we’re inspired by technologies that have revolutionized how people spread and consume information. We often talk about inventions like the printing press and the television — by simply making communication more efficient, they led to a complete transformation of many important parts of society. They gave more people a voice. They encouraged progress. They changed the way society was organized. They brought us closer together.
Today, our society has reached another tipping point. We live at a moment when the majority of people in the world have access to the internet or mobile phones — the raw tools necessary to start sharing what they’re thinking, feeling and doing with whomever they want. Facebook aspires to build the services that give people the power to share and help them once again transform many of our core institutions and industries.
There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future. The scale of the technology and infrastructure that must be built is unprecedented, and we believe this is the most important problem we can focus on.
We hope to strengthen how people relate to each other.
Even if our mission sounds big, it starts small — with the relationship between two people.
Personal relationships are the fundamental unit of our society. Relationships are how we discover new ideas, understand our world and ultimately derive long-term happiness.
At Facebook, we build tools to help people connect with the people they want and share what they want, and by doing this we are extending people’s capacity to build and maintain relationships.
People sharing more — even if just with their close friends or families — creates a more open culture and leads to a better understanding of the lives and perspectives of others. We believe that this creates a greater number of stronger relationships between people, and that it helps people get exposed to a greater number of diverse perspectives.
By helping people form these connections, we hope to rewire the way people spread and consume information. We think the world’s information infrastructure should resemble the social graph — a network built from the bottom up or peer-to-peer, rather than the monolithic, top-down structure that has existed to date. We also believe that giving people control over what they share is a fundamental principle of this rewiring.
We have already helped more than 800 million people map out more than 100 billion connections so far, and our goal is to help this rewiring accelerate.
We hope to improve how people connect to businesses and the economy.
We think a more open and connected world will help create a stronger economy with more authentic businesses that build better products and services.
As people share more, they have access to more opinions from the people they trust about the products and services they use. This makes it easier to discover the best products and improve the quality and efficiency of their lives.
One result of making it easier to find better products is that businesses will be rewarded for building better products — ones that are personalized and designed around people. We have found that products that are “social by design” tend to be more engaging than their traditional counterparts, and we look forward to seeing more of the world’s products move in this direction.Our developer platform has already enabled hundreds of thousands of businesses to build higher-quality and more social products. We have seen disruptive new approaches in industries like games, music and news, and we expect to see similar disruption in more industries by new approaches that are social by design.
In addition to building better products, a more open world will also encourage businesses to engage with their customers directly and authentically. More than four million businesses have Pages on Facebook that they use to have a dialogue with their customers. We expect this trend to grow as well.
We hope to change how people relate to their governments and social institutions.
We believe building tools to help people share can bring a more honest and transparent dialogue around government that could lead to more direct empowerment of people, more accountability for officials and better solutions to some of the biggest problems of our time.
By giving people the power to share, we are starting to see people make their voices heard on a different scale from what has historically been possible. These voices will increase in number and volume. They cannot be ignored. Over time, we expect governments will become more responsive to issues and concerns raised directly by all their people rather than through intermediaries controlled by a select few.
Through this process, we believe that leaders will emerge across all countries who are pro-internet and fight for the rights of their people, including the right to share what they want and the right to access all information that people want to share with them.
Finally, as more of the economy moves towards higher-quality products that are personalized, we also expect to see the emergence of new services that are social by design to address the large worldwide problems we face in job creation, education and health care. We look forward to doing what we can to help this progress.
Our Mission and Our Business
As I said above, Facebook was not originally founded to be a company. We’ve always cared primarily about our social mission, the services we’re building and the people who use them. This is a different approach for a public company to take, so I want to explain why I think it works.
I started off by writing the first version of Facebook myself because it was something I wanted to exist. Since then, most of the ideas and code that have gone into Facebook have come from the great people we’ve attracted to our team.
Most great people care primarily about building and being a part of great things, but they also want to make money. Through the process of building a team — and also building a developer community, advertising market and investor base — I’ve developed a deep appreciation for how building a strong company with a strong economic engine and strong growth can be the best way to align many people to solve important problems.
Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.
And we think this is a good way to build something. These days I think more and more people want to use services from companies that believe in something beyond simply maximizing profits.
By focusing on our mission and building great services, we believe we will create the most value for our shareholders and partners over the long term — and this in turn will enable us to keep attracting the best people and building more great services. We don’t wake up in the morning with the primary goal of making money, but we understand that the best way to achieve our mission is to build a strong and valuable company.
This is how we think about our IPO as well. We’re going public for our employees and our investors. We made a commitment to them when we gave them equity that we’d work hard to make it worth a lot and make it liquid, and this IPO is fulfilling our commitment. As we become a public company, we’re making a similar commitment to our new investors and we will work just as hard to fulfill it.
The Hacker Way
As part of building a strong company, we work hard at making Facebook the best place for great people to have a big impact on the world and learn from other great people. We have cultivated a unique culture and management approach that we call the Hacker Way.
The word “hacker” has an unfairly negative connotation from being portrayed in the media as people who break into computers. In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done. Like most things, it can be used for good or bad, but the vast majority of hackers I’ve met tend to be idealistic people who want to have a positive impact on the world.
The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it — often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.
Hackers try to build the best services over the long term by quickly releasing and learning from smaller iterations rather than trying to get everything right all at once. To support this, we have built a testing framework that at any given time can try out thousands of versions of Facebook. We have the words “Done is better than perfect” painted on our walls to remind ourselves to always keep shipping.
Hacking is also an inherently hands-on and active discipline. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works. There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: “Code wins arguments.”
Hacker culture is also extremely open and meritocratic. Hackers believe that the best idea and implementation should always win — not the person who is best at lobbying for an idea or the person who manages the most people.
To encourage this approach, every few months we have a hackathon, where everyone builds prototypes for new ideas they have. At the end, the whole team gets together and looks at everything that has been built. Many of our most successful products came out of hackathons, including Timeline, chat, video, our mobile development framework and some of our most important infrastructure like the HipHop compiler.
To make sure all our engineers share this approach, we require all new engineers — even managers whose primary job will not be to write code — to go through a program called Bootcamp where they learn our codebase, our tools and our approach. There are a lot of folks in the industry who manage engineers and don’t want to code themselves, but the type of hands-on people we’re looking for are willing and able to go through Bootcamp.
The examples above all relate to engineering, but we have distilled these principles into five core values for how we run Facebook:
Focus on Impact
If we want to have the biggest impact, the best way to do this is to make sure we always focus on solving the most important problems. It sounds simple, but we think most companies do this poorly and waste a lot of time. We expect everyone at Facebook to be good at finding the biggest problems to work on.
Move Fast
Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.” The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.
Be Bold
Building great things means taking risks. This can be scary and prevents most companies from doing the bold things they should. However, in a world that’s changing so quickly, you’re guaranteed to fail if you don’t take any risks. We have another saying: “The riskiest thing is to take no risks.” We encourage everyone to make bold decisions, even if that means being wrong some of the time.
Be Open
We believe that a more open world is a better world because people with more information can make better decisions and have a greater impact. That goes for running our company as well. We work hard to make sure everyone at Facebook has access to as much information as possible about every part of the company so they can make the best decisions and have the greatest impact.
Build Social Value
Once again, Facebook exists to make the world more open and connected, and not just to build a company. We expect everyone at Facebook to focus every day on how to build real value for the world in everything they do.
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. We believe that we have an opportunity to have an important impact on the world and build a lasting company in the process. I look forward to building something great together.
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http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/facebook-ipo-letter/
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Mabel Wilcox 1882-1978 was Kaua’i Florence Nightingale, as Mabel Smyth was to O’ahu. Mabel our Social Gospel Do-er, Matthew 5/Isaiah 58. Mabel had a soft heart, vs. her domineering sister Elsie, Mabel the granddaughter of our original missionaries, and the daughter of genesis Lyman’s daughter Emma, thence our Lyman House Restoration by Emma, & Emma’s daughters Mabel & Elsie 1931. Of course, our Hilo Lymans were not personally down to earth, but imperious, vs. tender touch Mabel Wilcox, who never married. Mabel was pretty yet pure. Mabel’s ohana Galen/son Gerald Fisher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove_Farm_(Lihue,_Hawaii)
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Mabel was to Kaua’i what Ted & Mary Atherton Richards were to O’ahu re: Social Gospel a century ago, just as Mary’s baby brother Frank Atherton was WWI to WWII.
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Chinese immigrated to the U.S. via the California Gold Rush & the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. After the railroad’s completion in 1869, Americans feared the Chinese invasion to sweep up other jobs in the U.S. Thence the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Which triggered Japanese immigration en masse in 1885 to Hawai’i to supply labor for our sugar planters. Major Japanese movement to California occurred 20 yrs. later 1905 because of increased restrictions vs. Japanese relocation to the Mainland that would thwart later movement to Stateside ports. The Japanese Exclusion Act of 1924 mirrored the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Eventually, Congress allowed Chinese immigrants to become U.S. citizens in 1943, Filipino immigrants in 1946, & Japanese after 1952. Do you know that Masaji Marumoto [2nd generation– AJA] was the only top Japanese Hospital Nihonjin Byoin [today’s Kuakini Medical Ctr.] administrator/director not interned WWII?? Mas went on to serve with our 442 MIS [intelligence section/interpreter] & later became the 1st AJA highest court justice nationwide 1957 under Ike.
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For the U.S. to own colonies overseas in 1893 rebuked its own tradition of rebelling vs. its British colonialists in 1776. As Joseph Nawahi 1842-1896 intoned, his Ke Aloha ‘Aina focus after the overthrow was not on the monarchy but on indigenous ownership of land/resources, something which scholar Jon Chinen reprised in Jon’s 2 books on the Mahele of 1848. Nawahi focused on indigenous rights, not on hereditary ranking at birth. Again, to Nawahi, unlike today’s misguided Jon Osorio, Osorio’s so-called cultural basis of native rule, anchored on the mutuality between the commoner & the Mo’i/ali’i, was but an illusion fabricated by the feudal barons. Put simply, the control of both sides of a bargain acquired in such adhesion/manner is not a mutuality but a unilateral dictate. And unlike today’s misguided patriots Osorio/Kekuni Blaisdell, a bigot of a kupuna, our Kaimu native Nawahi wanted to restore hoa’aina power/national authority the correct way, with no distortion of fact/reasoning so pervasive among current revisionists like Osorio/Kekuni Blaisdell. Nawahi’s touchstone was that no such idyllic mutuality existed in olden times — feudal dictatorial rule by hereditary kings was odious to a free republic, which Nawahi advocated. Nawahi was Emma’s backer as a nascent solon at age 32 vs. Kalakaua. Emma/husband Kamehameha IV constructed the British-style St. Andrew Cathedral next door to Washington Place.
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Quantum theory posits that the Cosmos/Universe does not have a singular existence or explanation, but instead that every possible notion of the Cosmos exists simultaneously, upside-downing cause & effect, beginning and end — essentially we create our own universe by observing it, instead of our universe creating us — that we are but warbles in the very early universe — that multiverses appear out of nothing, each w/different laws of nature — that if true, the M-unified theory of everything which Einstein was looking for is the ultimate triumph of human reason. In the movie Matrix we are but computer simulations. Such “anomie” [broken dreams/purposelessness] negate making our lives rich in joy, satisfying in relationships, & meaningful in our walk in our “material world.” No top – down reality ensues.
Such mind-shifting implications of this reshaping of our place in our Universe are not exhilarating, but a crash course in random-ness and purposelessness. Mind-bending, heart-stopping declarations on fortuitous happenings. Such “randomness” has philosopical antecedents in our Grecian past –
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum#S.C3.B8ren_Kierkegaard.27s_critique
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Although the idea expressed in Cogito ergo sum is widely attributed to Descartes, he was not the first to mention it. Plato spoke about the “knowledge of knowledge” (Greek νόησις νοήσεως – nóesis noéseos) and Aristotle explains the idea in full length:
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But if life itself is good and pleasant (…) and if one who sees is conscious that he sees, one who hears that he hears, one who walks that he walks and similarly for all the other human activities there is a faculty that is conscious of their exercise, so that whenever we perceive, we are conscious that we perceive, and whenever we think, we are conscious that we think, and to be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious that we exist… (Nicomachean Ethics, 1170a25 ff.)
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Augustine of Hippo in De Civitate Dei writes Si […] fallor, sum (“If I am mistaken, I am”) (book XI, 26), and also anticipates modern refutations of the concept. Furthermore, in the Enchiridion Augustine attempts to refute skepticism by stating, “[B]y not positively affirming that they are alive, the skeptics ward off the appearance of error in themselves, yet they do make errors simply by showing themselves alive; one cannot err who is not alive. That we live is therefore not only true, but it is altogether certain as well” (Chapter 7 section 20). Another predecessor was Avicenna‘s “Floating Man” thought experiment on human self-awareness and self-consciousness. Nevertheless, Descartes was original in expanding the idea as a defense against skepticism and using it as a foundation of his whole metaphysics.
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Søren Kierkegaard’s critique
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard provided a critical response to the cogito. Kierkegaard argues that the cogito already pre-supposes the existence of “I”, and therefore concluding with existence is logically trivial. Kierkegaard’s argument can be made clearer if one extracts the premise “I think” into two further premises:
“x” thinks
I am that “x”
Therefore I think
Therefore I am
Where “x” is used as a placeholder in order to disambiguate the “I” from the thinking thing.
Here, the cogito has already assumed the “I”‘s existence as that which thinks. For Kierkegaard, Descartes is merely “developing the content of a concept”, namely that the “I”, which already exists, thinks.
Kierkegaard argues that the value of the cogito is not its logical argument, but its psychological appeal: a thought must have something that exists to think the thought. It is psychologically difficult to think “I do not exist”. But as Kierkegaard argues, the proper logical flow of argument is that existence is already assumed or pre-supposed in order for thinking to occur, not that existence is concluded from that thinking.
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Secular seer/atheist Hawking says that such upside down reality impels us to treat others with immense kindness because we have only one shot in this mortal life to “make up” amend/redeem ourselves to encourage and support others.
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Ancient Chinese parable uses nature to illustrate true humility — Sage Chuang-Tzu walks w/a disciple on a hilltop. They see a crooked, ancient tree without a single straight branch. The disciple says the tree is useless because nothing can be used from it. Chuang-Tzu replies, “This is why it’s ancient – no one knows how useful it is to be useless, because everyone seems to know how useful it is to be useful!!” McCartney’s “Let it Be” tune harmonizes one w/nature’s secret revelation of seeming simplicity, steeped in deepest wisdom.
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Idle speculation? How many angels can fit on the head of a pin? Science is not the answer to our metaphysical prayer. Yet science drfits into abstruse mathematics and becomes its own “false” religion ergo failed theory. Delusion of complex high mathematics effuse apparent rigour/absolute clarity/right vs. wrong — all esoteric — yet the answer to science depends on the question you choose to ask, & the way you frame your question. And while the framework may be rigorous internally, it still can be applied wrongly. Detection is no simple matter, and the certitude of the “Mind” obscures simple human fallacy ergo hamartia/miscue. Is metaphysic more engaging than our dreary Plato to NATO narrative which dominates conventional histories of ideas — of course, but know that this wide range of references prove invaluable, in that the “Mind” fools itself more often than Man admits. History is filled with millions of failed & foolhardy theories. Is God dead?
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Michelangelo arguably is the greatest artist in history [Leonardo da Vinci among the greatest of Renaissance painters, w/a delicate mien]. For me, Keoni & Lukini Andrew born 1942/1943 are tremendous applicators of our Christ creed. Just the same, we need to be prescient in Afghanistan — stop spending billions on neo-colonialism, and instead transition to a tough advisor corps, leaving the Afghans to fight their own battles. The Taliban fear the ferocity of our soldiers, as our “Grunts’ Homer(s)” [combat correspondents] plainly depict time and again. Of course, America’s sanctioned but illicit violence in foreign politics and state affairs link w/our long-standing involvement in global drug trafficking, ergo Thailand 60 yrs. ago/Laos/Vietnam/Italy/Mexico/Nigeria/Venezuela/Colombia/Peru/Chile/Panama/Honduras/Turkey/Pakistan, & now Afghanistan, which has increased, not curtailed, the global drug trade. Natural resources such as oil drove our link w/third world dictators Mobuto in Zaire/Noriega in Panama/Pinochet in Chile/Marcos in P.I./Suharto in Indonesia/Zia in Pakistan/Park Chung Hee in South Korea. The Bank of Credit and Commerce International [BCCI] was focal to our CIA’s ties w/Pakistan & the Afghan mujahideen. Parasites Adnan Khashoggi/Marc Rich/Bruce Rappaport lurk behind. After all, as Rich Holbrooke intoned, drugs sustain jihadi salafism much more surely than jihadi salafism sustains drugs.
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The security of nations is tied to the security of individuals, based on a commitment to dignity of spirit, democratic values, and freedom from want, per Nobel Peace Prize awardee Mohamed Elbaradei of Egypt, who was director of the Int’l Atomic Energy Agency from 1997-2009. Elbaradei’s got it right, but Ian Morris born 1960 sees the grand vision based on geography, as our magister vitae, or “teacher of life,” Morris’ vision irresistible like peers Jared Diamond/David Landes. In 1750, English capitalists engaged in steam and coal, thus fueling factories/railroads/gunboats, to our cyberchips/nukes today. Western dominance is based on geography, not race or culture, how Westerners deal with crises of resources/disease/migration/governance/climate. Biology is not the Divider — there is one kind of human that evolved in Africa 100,000 yrs. ago, making extinct older kinds of humans. There are no genetic differences between today’s humans in different parts of the world. We hardly are different in genetic makeup from chimps, for that matter. Biologically, the West got its head start at the end of the Ice Age 13,000 BC, but around 550 AD it disappeared altogether, and for the next 1,200 yrs. the East led the world in social development. The West then took charge in 1750 AD. Morris says the paradox of development is that rising social development creates the very forces which undermine it, the 5 horsemen of the apocalypse — manmade famine/disease/migration/state collapse/nature-made climate change such as today’s global warming. Agriculture does not fuel today’s development — fossil fuels did after 1750 AD. By 550 AD the Arab invaders broke up the old Mediterranian core but were not strong enough to remake it, & social development fell in the West. But in the East a new frontier of rice agriculture had begun booming around the Yangzi river, & the Yangzi & Yellow rivers linked up via the Grand Canal, giving a unified China a system of internal waterways like the Mediterranean had done for ancient Rome. Easterners could have discovered the Americas in the 1400s AD [Menzies says they did], but geography made it likely that Westerners would get here first. Easterners had far more to gain by sailing toward the riches of the Indian Ocean instead of the empty Pacific or by pushing inland into the Western direction steppes, which had been the greatest threat to their security for nearly 2,000 yrs. Mass decisions — at the end of WWII, half a billion women decided to marry younger than their mothers had done and bear more children. Baby boomers. Then 3 decades later, these baby boomer girls chose to do the opposite. Nature’s way. After mass deaths aka global war, we make more babies. Amid longterm affluence, we make less because we get more selfish. We admire radicals/rebels/romantics — nonconformists — but predictably, nonconformists don’t fare better w/access to food/shelter/soulmates — our Anna Kareninas dissenters. Evolution selects for us common sense. Muhammad the eccentric changed history, though, simply because of his nonconformity to convention, as did Jesus, as did Buddha. Bumbling idiots who changed history for the worse include Qin First Emperor/Mao Tse Tung, & Assyria’s Tiglath-Pileser III.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina#Major_themes
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Anna Karenina is commonly thought to explore the themes of hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, family, marriage, society, progress, carnal desire and passion, and the agrarian connection to land in contrast to the lifestyles of the city. Translator Rosemary Edmonds wrote that Tolstoy doesn’t explicitly moralise in the book, he allows his themes to emerge naturally from the “vast panorama of Russian life.” She also says one of the novel’s key messages is that “no one may build their happiness on another’s pain.”
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Levin is often considered as a semi-autobiographical portrayal of Tolstoy’s own beliefs, struggles and life events. Tolstoy’s first name is “Lev”, and the Russian surname “Levin” means “of Lev”. According to footnotes in the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, the viewpoints Levin supports throughout the novel in his arguments match Tolstoy’s outspoken views on the same issues. Moreover, according to W. Gareth Jones, Levin proposed to Kitty in the same way as Tolstoy to Sophie Behrs. Additionally, Levin’s request that his fiancée read his diary as a way of disclosing his faults and previous sexual encounters, parallels Tolstoy’s own requests to his fiancée Sophie Behrs.
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Anna Karenina and Tolstoy’s A Confession
Alla Tarasova as Anna Karenina in 1937
Many of the novel’s themes can also be found in Tolstoy’s A Confession, his first-person rumination about the nature of life and faith, written just two years after the publication of Anna Karenina.
In this book, Tolstoy describes his dissatisfaction with the hypocrisy of his social class:
| “ | Every time I tried to display my innermost desires – a wish to be morally good – I met with contempt and scorn, and as soon as I gave in to base desires I was praised and encouraged. | ” |
Tolstoy also details the acceptability of adulterous “liaisons” in aristocratic Russian society:
| “ | A dear old aunt of mine, the purest of creatures, with whom I lived, was always saying that she wished for nothing as much as that I would have a relationship with a married woman. “Rien ne forme un jeune homme comme une liaison avec une femme comme il faut.” (“Nothing educates a young man better than an affair with a woman established in society.”) | ” |
Another theme in Anna Karenina is that of the aristocratic habit of speaking French instead of Russian, which Tolstoy suggests is another form of society’s falseness. When Dolly insists on speaking French to her young daughter, Tanya, she begins to seem false and tedious to Levin, who finds himself unable to feel at ease in her house.
In a passage that could be interpreted as a sign of Anna’s eventual redemption in Tolstoy’s eyes, the narrator explains:
| “ | For in the end what are we, who are convinced that suicide is obligatory and yet cannot resolve to commit it, other than the weakest, the most inconsistent and, speaking frankly, the most stupid of people, making such a song and dance with our banalities? | ” |
A Confession contains many other autobiographical insights into the themes of Anna Karenina. A public domain version of it is on Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
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Great men and women and bungling idiots are creatures of their times. But as Ian Morris implores, culture is less a voice in our heads telling us what to do than an assembly hall where we discuss our options. Each age gets the thought it needs, dictated by the kind of problems that geography and social development force on it. But unquestionably, necessity via geography-social development or regression forces change — from ancient forager — to agriculture — to villager — to city dweller — to nation/state — to global regionalism. Histories of Eastern & Western thought have been broadly similar over the last 5,000 yrs., with rise of the first states around 3,500 BC in the West and after 2,000 BC in the East — which set off arguments over the nature of and limits on divine kingship — the whimsical/mystical and the secular/civil. As states became more meta-impact after 750 BC in the West & 500 BC in the East, such discussions led to first-wave axial [will to meaning in life][Karl Jaspers 1883-1969 ID’d an axial age-origin of modern spirituality w/contempos Isaiah/Plato/Confucius/Buddha — making Jaspers as among the great synthesizers in history along w/John Dewey/Williams James/etc.] thought, debating the nature of personal transcendence [ascetism] & its relationship to secular authority. By 200 AD, as the great Roman and Han empires collapsed, 2nd wave axial thought emerged, over how organized churches [New Testament/Dharma] could save the religious believer in a meaningless and frightening and chaotic/dangerous life-world. And when social development revived — by 1000 AD in China & 1400 in Italy — renaissance questions over how to bypass the sordid present in order to regain the lost wisdom of the 1st axial age [Old Testament/old Sangha] — resonated in loud decibels. Each great change pushed people to think the thoughts which the epoch/era/Age needed. After 1600 AD, Westerners became more linear/scientific [rationalist][Industrial Revolution the result], whereas Easterners became more circular/holistic [mystic][largely agrarian the result]. Not biological — Westerners attune to analytical measurement, Easterners attune to “the big picture” [will to meaning a la Rong Qiqi acolytes]. Since 1700 AD many Muslims turned inward in response to military-political defeat, just as Chinese did earlier by 1500 AD. Yet Turkey stayed modern via its geographical port/portal commercial exposure, whereas the Taliban would kill women for showing their faces in public.
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Red China’s output will catch up with the U.S.’ in the next 10 yrs, its warmaking capacity-cyberinfo tech-per capita energy capture in 30 yrs. Such Chinese planglossian mirth might even come sooner, in light of our continued Western decline after the fall of Wall St. 2008.
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Geography is a life and death matter for us all. Jared Diamond says that Laurence C. Smith is a rising star among geographers, w/Smith’s template of 4 forces shaping civilization’s “northern” future — demography/natural resources/climate change/globalization — 8 nations of the arctic rim incl. U.S. will prosper while the equator nations will be sapped & sunk. Food for thought.
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http://spatialworlds.blogspot.com/2011/04/entwining-history-and-geography.html
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http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2011/12/10/hawaii-bulletin-%e2%80%94-county-redistricting-commission-to-hold-special-meeting-friday/#comment-110992
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The controversy of Nathan Bedford Forrest —
On February 10, 2011 Fox news reported that there is a proposal to issue specialty license plates honoring Forrest. The state-issued plates are to mark the 150th anniversary of the “War between the states.” Forrest’s legacy still draws heated public debate, as he has been called “one of the most controversial – and popular – icons of the war.” The Sons of Confederate Veterans helped sponsor a set of Mississippi licence plates commemorating the Civil War, for which the 2014 version featuring Forrest drew controversy in 2011. The Mississippi NAACP petitioned Governor Haley Barbour to denounce the plates and prevent their distribution. Barbour refused to denounce the honor, noting instead that the state legislature would not be likely to approve the plate anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest#Continuing_controversies
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Fictional Forrest Gump
Fictional Forrest Gump was born near the fictional small town, Greenbow, Alabama, on June 6, 1944 (the same day the Allied forces began Operation Overlord). His father was absent during his life; his mother said he was “on vacation.” His mother named Forrest after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a noted Confederate general in the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who is supposedly related to Gump. She intended his name to be a reminder that “sometimes we all do things that, well, just don’t make no sense.”
Fictional Gump had a low I.Q. of 75, which nearly prevented him from being accepted into public school. Despite his physical and mental challenges, Gump’s mother told him not to let anyone tell him he was different, telling him “stupid is as stupid does.”
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Visiting his wife Jenny’s grave one day, Gump reflects on the idea of fate and destiny, wondering if his cynical CO was right about people making their own destiny, or if his Mother was right about her description of life as floating around accidentally like a feather on a breeze. He eventually decides that “maybe they’re both together as one, maybe both are happening at the same time.” [Will or uncontrollable Fate — or a mesh of both]
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Gump’s book character is somewhat cynical and abrasive, while in the film he is more placid and naïve, appealing him to viewers. The book’s character exposes life’s indifference/nihilism, just as its author Winston Groom born 1944 — steeped in military experience/Vietnam War anomie — feels.
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White Feather symbol
“I don’t want to sound like a bad version of ‘the child within.’ But the childlike innocence of Forrest Gump is what we all once had. It’s an emotional journey. You laugh and cry. It does what movies are supposed to do: make you feel alive.”
—producer Wendy Finerman
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Various interpretations have been suggested for the feather present at the opening and conclusion of the film. Sarah Lyall of The New York Times noted several opinions that were made about the feather: “Does the white feather symbolize the unbearable lightness of being? Forrest Gump’s impaired intellect? The randomness of experience?”
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Tom Hanks [who is Portuguese/Luso] interpreted the feather as: “Our destiny is only defined by how we deal with the chance elements to our life and that’s kind of the embodiment of the feather as it comes in. Here is this thing that can land anywhere and that it lands at your feet. It has theological implications that are really huge.” [our destiny eventually is revealed to us, a la Tom Cruise’s & Ken Watanabe’s characters in “The Last Samurai” movie]
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Sally Field compared the feather to fate, saying: “It blows in the wind and just touches down here or there. Was it planned or was it just perchance?” Visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston compared the feather to an abstract painting: “It can mean so many things to so many different people.”
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The feather is stored in a book titled ‘Curious George,’ Gump’s favorite book, which his mother read to him, connecting the scene’s present time with Gump’s childhood in the 1940s.
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The placement of the feather in the book is directly on a picture of the monkey walking on a tightrope. Whether that was intentional or not; it is very symbolic. [life is filled w/trial-tribulation — how we adjust/
adapt determine our fate, so to speak]
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Alluding to Abbie Hoffman’s inapposite/impertinent example, authentic Gump is not a fugitive from life — instead, life’s shallowness is a fugitive from Gump’s real/loving existence.
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Gump’s originality/authenticity/realness as one can transcend beyond –
are in the Jewish/Black Christian Church prophetic traditions –
comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. As immense sage
& Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl evoked, decadent opulence-affluence-materialism/hedonism/egocentrism/overpride/vanity/
jealousy/envy/greed/anger/lust deter the search for meaning in life. Gump’s simplicity/frugality abide in the potential of finding life’s deeper truth/meaning/ultimate disguised blessing if any. Movie’s positive existentialism contrasts w/book’s skeptical posture — book is to dive into one’s finite interest(s), to ignore the indifference/negativity of life — to be positive to and for oneself in the fearful face of everything negative.
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Gump’s innocent alignment with desegregation coupled with his attributes as a quintessential white—his name being that of Bedford Forrest, Ku Klux Klan leader—leads Weigman to conclude that the movie works to split “whiteness” from the white body, as “white power and privilege are displaced from any inherent relation–historically, ideologically, politically–to white skin.”
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Amazing symbolism!!
http:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump_(novel)//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump#Feather
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gump_and_Co.
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[We’re all Jekyll & Hyde, as Gump accidentally crashes the Exxon Valdez, in the novel’s sequel after the movie became a blockbuster — as Ehime Maru’s Scott Waddle is a fallen hero-hamartia — tremendous man of cognition Kevin Hickman Steadman born 1953 of Spanish Fork-Salt Lake City Utah — is my avatar on observing our failed human condition]
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To give all of oneself for the good of another, because the bonds of love by definition and reality include sadness and vulnerability — for example, to encourage independent matedness & family in another, not to be trapped by you — what sage Judith Viorst calls “necessary loss,” is redemptive loss/suffering of the highest order — and a deep fall off the sheer cliff of life’s tribulation — God Willing — or, in a word, “IF” — if you have Faith in our Heavenly Father, if you obey in Him and endure to the end — so then will you find everlasting comfort/
fulfillment/Love in Heavenly Father’s Kingdom Beyond. Life’s trials/
tribulations test our resolve in our Heavenly Father, that is, if we are to serve well our Heavenly Father, for His Son Christ absolved us all of our sins — now it remains for us to lead our lost battalion to the Promised Land — by serving well Heavenly Father during our tenure here in our sentient/mortal life. A-mena. God bless Keoni & Lukini Andrew. Thine Will, Be Done. 
Love for now and for always, –Curt
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Just head for that big star. It will take you home.
By Curtis Narimatsu
From the movie “Misfits” with Clark Gable & Marilyn Monroe –
“How do you find your way back in the dark?” –Monroe’s character
“Just head for that big star. It will take you home.” — Gable’s character, at the end of the last film either would complete.
I couldn’t figure out why Ili might’ve guessed I was unhappy with Ili recently. To the contrary –
Ili’s presence and energy inspire me to write of hope and happiness completely!! Life is no fun without Ili’s positive energy!! Yes, easier said than done to lecture that I should go to church to be with Jesus. As sage Steven Kalas born 1958 would say, our line is direct with Jesus.
No one has God on us, that is, no one interposes to block access to God. My line is direct.
The higher truth is that though the afterlife results in eternal comfort and consolation with Jesus, making my desire stronger to join eternity sooner, the reward of happiness in the afterlife allows me to defer/delay gratification and “endure to the end” in this indifferent mortal world [except for Ili — our angel on our shoulder in this life], desolate as it is in our failed human condition. The ultimate disguised blessing is that by serving others, such as Ili, happiness flows like tears upon a kleenex tissue as a reward of the heart.
Recently Sempai born 1950 was energized by what he had written & published about getting pushed down to the ground by a huge 40-something yr. old haole redneck guy in a road rage incident.
Sempai came to see me in to decompress from the fella with the road rage.
Sempai didn’t know it, but I was writing verses of hope and happiness as my gift to share with Ili and the world. Redemptive suffering. It was my birthday & I had no one to celebrate it with. So instead of being despondent, isolated, and so alone, I did a twist on fate & did what I love to do — to write of everlasting love, hope, and happiness. I irreversibly made my own desolate birthday completely fulfilling by writing of beauty in others such as Ili. This is the authenticity of redemptive suffering, not the cheesy pop fluff which passes off as Christmas sermons from the church’s proud hombres.
Nonetheless, I thank the Lord above for the beautiful coincidence of Sempai coming to see me for communion/togetherness, which made my birthday complete! Faith is not outcome dependent, so I don’t say that nothing ever is by coincidence. I don’t see God as bestowing good luck/blessings to keep my Faith. It is not outcome dependent! I firmly believe this, just as I don’t equate God with magic/hocus pocus.
Anyway, I shared with Ili my deepest feelings, and that Ili’s presence is positive, not negative.
Well, as the ole’ movie line goes, time for me to drive down that good ole’ highway to home!! Aloha & thank you Ili always, your biggest fan, –Curt
[as fate would have it, a car driver despondent over his girlfriend hit/fell a telephone pole on my access road at 2:00 a.m., driver & male passenger sustaining bruises and nothing more, but downing the internet till now, thence this delayed missive about Ili]
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Ambivalence is the warrior’s creed
By Curtis Narimatsu
Shawnee medicine man Neeka is a man of peace. But if you threaten his family, if you steal his horses or food stores, Neeka is willing to fight. He will paint the right side of his face red. The other, white. The red is Neeka’s anger. The white is Neeka’s love for peace. He will draw a black line down the center of his face. He is now a man divided against himself. You see Neeka painted like this, you run away quick! Because a man divided against himself is a very dangerous man.
http://www.lvrj.com/living/women-confused-when-men-show–warrior–side-95716564.html
Suffering is the only possible outcome for choosing to breathe the rare air of a great love, for one’s family, for one’s country. Neeka’s tears are his honor. His decision to endure is his loved ones’ legacy.
Expectation, fight or flight, sensibly is answered by the Higher Truth of “What do I know?” Humility, nailed to the floor in inner strength. Deal with the result, whatever it might be. But, just as important is being willing to be pregnant with ourselves, and therefore willing to meet ourselves. Born again. Ambivalence results in a new birth of just who we are, really. Our warrior’s creed.
Like everyone, you have your favorite ways of being loved. But what a nice gift it is to be open to receive your mate’s favorite way of loving you! To learn to appreciate it. To value what it means to your mate. And, if nothing else, to learn to enjoy how much fun your mate has loving you that way.
Likewise we do well not to assume our favorite way to love our mate should always trump the menu card, just because we enjoy loving that way. It is an act of faithfulness to learn and practice our mate’s primary love language.
Pay attention to the ways your mate loves you. Because, in most cases, it’s the way your mate most wants to be loved.
But committed love-relationships are not only about working to make sure everyone is getting and giving the love they most like to get and give [such as Gary Chapman’s simplistic 5 love languages book]. It includes the willingness to grow, to learn to appreciate and be grateful for ways of loving and being loved that you might not have ever chosen, in and of yourself.
Because it’s fun to make your beloved feel loved.
The tasks of connectedness and healthy separateness are never either/or. They are both/and.
Nope, I don’t help people be OK with being alone. I invite them to embrace their longing for matedness. To dig deeply into it. To feel every bit of the ache. To let that deep longing become a team of powerful horses, pulling their hearts and lives into the future with vitality, intention and authenticity.
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Clear View Counseling Wellness Center in Las Vegas and the author of “Human Matters: Wise and Witty Counsel on Relationships, Parenting, Grief and Doing the Right Thing” (Stephens Press). His columns appear on Sundays. Contact him at skalas@reviewjournal.com.
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Overpride is humanity’s bane
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http://curtisnarimatsu.blogwonks.com/2010/11/25/overpride-is-humanitys-bane-2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rong_Qiqi
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Confucius encounters Rong Qiqi, an elderly recluse who has chosen a life of ascetism. Rong is starkly in contrast with the Confucian ideal of a successful man; he is elderly, poorly dressed, with no material possessions or ambitions. And yet, despite his poverty, Rong appears happy to Confucius. He responds to Confucius’ bewilderment with a cheerful song, happily accompanied by his playing of the lute. The Han Dynasty classic Huainanzi reports that “when Rong Qiqi plucks one chord of his lute, Confucius, moved by its harmony, rejoiced for three days.”
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Confucius requests Rong provide reasons for his happiness. Rong Qiqi, Confucius surmised, has nothing to be joyful of; he has no possessions, no hope, and no future. Rong replies that he is happy for living to an old age. That, for him, is enough.
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After all, Rong surmises, most men are poor and all men will die, so why should he worry himself? This is consistent with all lives, so instead of waiting with everyone else for it to eventually end, why should he worry himself with anything? Why should he deny himself happiness? Instead of being miserable, waiting for his fate, he chooses to be happy. Says Rong Qiqi:
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“ For humans, a life of hardship is the norm and death is the end. Abiding by the norm, awaiting my end, what is there to be concerned about?”
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Confucius was known for his emphasis on filial piety and on the importance of education and studying. This makes him a perfect foil for Rong Qiqi, who rejects his personal responsibilities in favor of pursuing happiness.
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Rong Qiqi’s appeal was his complete abstinence of material desires. He was similar to his Western counterpart, Diogenes the Cynic, in rejecting all societal norms and physical comforts for a life of ascetic virtue.
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Being destitute was, by itself, not an appealing trait. But being liberated from societal pretension was a mind-
blowing positive feature.
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The philosophy of the possibly Rong Qiqi was widely admired among writers, with artists viewing it at as a more natural, more fluid, more liberating way to live life. The poet Ruan Kan wrote approvingly of Rong, applauding Rong Qiqi’s fatalistic view of life as a way to achieve the tranquility and harmony valued in Daoism as integral to the Tao.
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Of slave & storyteller Aesop — like those who dine well off the plainest dishes, he made use of humble incidents to teach great
truths.
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Gifts, especially of wisdom, are to share,
per John 6:63. Not to constrain to oneself. Which is why I share Steven Kalas’ gift of
wisdom w/those like myself most in need.
From sage Steven Kalas on the immense power of forgiveness — When reconciliation is real, the injuries sustained and healed in relationships become perhaps the strongest part of the bond. Scars are made beautiful. Even treasured in some peculiar way.
We don’t aim at forgetting. Yet, when the power of forgiveness is asked for and given, the delightful paradox is that then we often do forget.
I accept my foe’s apology. Shortly and simply. I hope, graciously. Where there was once silent emptiness there now abides freedom and the exchange of peace.
I’m happy for both of us.
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In praise of soulful angel on our shoulder Sarah, not to mention Sarah’s immense beauty & sensuality —
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“Now & for always [thanks, Ronnie Milsap, for this idiom]“ — –
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Crossed the river Euphrates, & Eber’s forebearers saw destiny unfold before them. Eber’s prodigy Sarai of incredible humbleness and heart so selflessly devoted her life to her Abram and to her people who became the twelve tribes of Israel, and thru them Sarai became the “Mother of Many Nations.”
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So the same, Sarai’s progeny Sarah evokes quiet strength and boundless love as contempo Sarah encourages and ennobles all around and beyond her. Truly, the greatest of silent disciples, majestic yet grounded Sarah is steeped in wisdom born of Providence. And Sarah’s greatest gift and Highest Truth are to share with us all — her infinite love and joy, as we ascend Imago Dei, the sacred manifestation of being eternally Reposed and Celestial.
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tender touch
soft heart
gentle nature
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Delightful yet profound word play from Sempai [older positive role model/exemplar] Dwight Kondo born 1950 –
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Curt: ”Isn’t the point about Ken Slaughter that he called you out to constrain you from touting yourself as the leader? Isn’t this your sole point of contention vs. Ken Slaughter?
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Glorious wisdom of Sempai Kondo –
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Contempo existentialism postulates that
one must make his and her own values in an indifferent world. One can live meaningfully [free of despair and anxiety] in an unconditional commitment to something finite, and devotes that meaningful life to the commitment, despite the external vulnerability inherent to doing so. I love history. I love life. My existential definition lies right here, right at this instant.
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Grace shapes our ideas about suffering and healing. Grace shapes the way we apprehend human dilemmas and proceed in our attempts to ameliorate those dilemmas.
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God’s Grace allows for Redemption, unearned and unmerited, but for the Grace of God. We all fall short. Most unfortunate, but such is our indifferent human lot.
Yes, we try our best to be authentic, however clumsily we plod forward, and in this sense, as with life overall, Redemption is key, brought on by God’s Grace.
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The most beautiful and erotic [as in lovers Jack and Rose in the 1997 movie Titanic] expressions from Ms. Toni Robert — “Just remember, your future is mine too. We are in this together.” Sigh….
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Who undyngly poured their lives into your own just because it made them smile to see you happy, thriving and victorious? Can you see their faces? Can you feel their love? Can you experience Divinity?
Recount their legacy. Right now. And be grateful.
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How do I find meaning and identity, comfort and consolation, in an indifferent world??
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Does love truly come to everyone? Or may I die alone, having never been loved or given the chance to love?
Love life, even if love does not come to you. You shall be rewarded in the afterlife, brah’/sis’
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I measure up in my love and devotion to you, even
if I don’t measure up in your eyes. I shall move
on, knowing that my love for you is true.
When I am ignored/forgotten, or when I await a minus/negative communication as one unburdens of me, I repose and take comfort that love lives on in my heart and in the afterlife, and that just the same, romance never dies, now or in the hereafter.
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“There, but for the Grace of God, go I” has its analog in Psalm 124: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,…when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive.”
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Sista’s memoir takes a sympathetic look at people who find hope at an end, as in suicide to end emotional or physical pain. Paradox is that Sista’s memoir of 40 yrs. ago in the thread “What is the meaning of life” is the most life affirming recount I’ve seen. The characters have real struggles — but at the end of the storyline, I see more beauty in it and in life, even in its most difficult moments. And it’s such a short allegory! Sista’ conveys so much in relatively few paragraphs.
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An overprideful person “swallows one’s own stomach.” Such nature entails endless self-aggrandizement and vanity, and ensures incomprehensibility at the moment it compels authenticity/truth.
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It is true, the strength behind the leader is the
person who mystifies me, the so-called unspoken one, like baby brother Andrew was to Peter [Bible]. God has no use for pride, such that the meekest of the meek went on to lead, like Moses/Gideon. Look at King David. Lowly Nathan chastened shell-shocked David. Look at Joshua/etc. All unheralded/unsung
heroes. Tremendous symbolism of “never judge a book by its cover.”
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Our greatest Pinoy/Filipino wayfinder is Pablo Manlapit 1891-1969, who was despised by accomodationist/mature sage Rev. Takie Okamura 1865-1951 for being an incendiary hothead. Do you know that Okamura & Manlapit were together on the same ship to Hilo when Okamura tried to quell the early strikers, and Manlapit tried to inflame them? Wow, talk about contradiction!! Anyway, Manlapit was borot to da max [loudmouth blowhard, at least to Okamura]. But name me any Pinoy to match Manlapit’s destiny-charing — none come to mind, because Manlapit was the supreme Do-er, like what later prodigy Ben Menor of Pahoa became. Of course, Manlapit/Menor/Kanaka Johnny Wilson’s huge idol was William Jennings Bryan 1860-1925, whose Cross of Gold speech in 1896 is our alltime standard for don’t wait, it’ll be too late [to save the teeming masses]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_gold_speech
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Kanaka Johnny Wilson 1871-1956 is the most popular mayor in the history of the Hawaiian Islands, and the very first Democrat in Hawai’i Nei. After Wilson spazed out from seeing Bryan in person on stage, Bryan’s Cross of Gold epiphany catalyzed Wilson to be our George Washington of the Democratic Party in Hawai’i.
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KL Ching a fan of Paul Theroux, grassrooter who recognized Barack Obama’s leadership qualities when Barack was a child.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Theroux#Personal_life
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Lily Aki [Ah Kee] Chow born 1927, wife of Robert Kau Yook [Steamy] Chow born 1922, has gung gung grandpa Charles Aki aka Fat Sun Lui born 1873 who stow-awayed to Hawai’i at age 14 in 1887. Charles Aki had store in Waiohinu which later was sold to Wong Yuen. Aki moved to Hilo in 1927 when Lily was born to Willie Aki [1st Asian electrician for Kimo Henderson’s Helco] born 1900, oldest of Charles Aki’s children — Charles was going to go back to China but stayed here, Charles from northern Canton. Charles our 1st Chinese to have enablement from local haoles, ergo OT Shipman, who bankrolled Charles’ kids incl. Lily’s dad Willie to Punahou, OT was our 1st Hawai’i County Democrat & our County treasurer, who safeguarded County property tax monies at Charles’ Waiohinu store when OT went to Kona. Shipman originally ministered in Ka’u. OT’s brother was WH Shipman [Herb Shipman’s dad]. Of course, Lei Victor Chang Yamada’s grandpa was galvanized by Father Pouzot’s Catholic Church [gave land for Catholic Cemetery by today’s Hilo Terrace Apts., where Father Pouzot & little orphan boy Frank Calvomatta are buried].
Immigrant Charles Aki’s current namesake/progeny real estate broker drop dead handsome Hollywood looking Charles a Mr. Cool, inside & out, temperature of a fridge cooler, not a warm fuzzy toaster.
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Donna Silver’s dad was Silverton Camp genesis in Papa’ikou, Donna’s mom is Kauila St. resident & teacher Kathryn Beveridge’s sister.
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/beautiful-intervention-brings-couple-closer-126078903.html
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He sits with his wife on the back porch as the sun pulls its light in and low over the horizon, heading for its nightly slumber. She is fresh from the shower, hair pulled simply back, not one ounce of makeup on her face. Her wardrobe is jeans and a sweatshirt.
She talks, and his mind wanders. He is watching the sun bounce off her hair, exploding with colors of brown, gold and dancing lights. Everything about her is acute. The light accents the strong line of her jaw. He reads the lines of her midlife complexion like a cherished entry in a diary, lingering over every word. He follows the slight profile of her nose up and plunges his attention into brown eyes transfixing the way he breathes.
“Are you listening to me?” she asks with furrowed brow. The question startles him from his revelry. “Uh, no,” he says in spontaneous honesty. “I was … lost noticing that … you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She sighs. Rolls her eyes. “Stop it,” she says. “I’m sitting here in lumpy clothes without any makeup on.”
Before, words like these might have cowed him. Beat him into submission. But, truth be told, he actually has been laying for her on this subject. He has devised an intervention, waiting for just this moment.
“Is it hard being beautiful?” he asks, simply.
“What do you mean?” she fires back, her voice mounting, almost irritated.
“Well, it just seems like, when I notice that you’re beautiful, it burdens you. Like you want to argue about it. Like I just handed you a bucket of dung, and you’re indignant and don’t know what you’re supposed to do with it. You seem uncomfortable.”
She’s handcuffed now. Speechless. This intervention is right on schedule.
He smiles warmly at her, trying to put her at ease for the next part.
“I want you to make a decision, and then live with that decision. As I see it, you have three choices. You could decide that I was a liar. The sort of husband who has a motive to make up stories about his wife being beautiful. Maybe I want sex. Or maybe I think it’s my duty to say, ‘You’re beautiful.’ Or, you could decide that I’m not bright enough to know the difference between beautiful and not beautiful. You could just say that, in this marriage, you are in charge of that decision, and you will let me know when you are beautiful and when you are not. But, I’m not authorized to make the diagnosis ‘beautiful.’ ”
Now she rests her mouth into her fist, staring at him from under her brow. She looks like a contestant that has just missed an easy question on a television game show. “Or …,” she asks, resigned.
“Or you could just ‘man up’ and deal with the fact that I think you’re stunning. Beautiful. I love looking at you. Dressed up. Or dressed down. Or undressed. You could decide to understand and believe how wonderful and important that is for me. How much I value it. You could decide to value it, or at least to appreciate how much I value it. You could even bask in it. Revel in it. Tell yourself that you’d miss that if it was gone. You could decide that whatever discomfort it provokes in you is yours alone. You could stop arguing with me, because I’m not the one with whom you have an argument. You are arguing with yourself on this one.”
“You’re not going to let me out of this, are you?” she says, pursing her lips and nodding.
“Nope,” he says, love pouring out of his eyes.
“So, it’s my job to be beautiful in this relationship,” she asks, joining the playfulness of the moment.
“It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it,” he says.
She pauses, as if to consider the proposition. “OK.” She throws up her hands. “I’m on it! Now …”
“Now, what?”
“Now … could you please ‘man up,’ get yourself together, deal with that fact that I’m The Goddess, and do whatever you do to bridle sexual ADHD and pay attention to me! Because I want to figure out the plan for tomorrow.”
“I’ll do my best,” he says, laughing out loud. “But I make no promises.”
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Las Vegas Psychiatry and the author of “Human Matters: Wise and Witty Counsel on Relationships, Parenting, Grief and Doing the Right Thing” (Stephens Press). His columns appear on Sundays. Contact him at 227-4165 or skalas@ reviewjournal.com.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/opinion/25krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/opinion/18krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/opinion/11krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/opinion/sunday/10dowd.html?ref=maureendowd
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/opinion/04krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raymond-j-learsy/world-food-shortage_b_880020.html
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http://baselinescenario.com/2011/07/07/will-the-united-states-default/?utm_source=feedburner
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raymond-j-learsy/wikileaks-brings-misguide_b_821203.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_States_Got_Their_Shapes
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros#Political_donations_and_activism
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Drug policy reform
Soros has funded worldwide efforts to promote drug policy reform. In 2008, Soros donated $400,000 to help fund a successful ballot measure in Massachusetts known as the Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative which decriminalized possession of less than 1 oz (28g) of marijuana in the state. Soros has also funded similar measures in California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Nevada and Maine. Among the drug decriminalization groups that have received funding from Soros are the Lindesmith Center and Drug Policy Foundation. Soros donated $1.4 million to publicity efforts to support California’s Proposition 5 in 2008, a failed ballot measure that would have expanded drug rehabilitation programs as alternatives to prison for persons convicted of non-violent drug-related offenses.
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In October 2010, Soros donated $1 million to support California’s Proposition 19.
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According to remarks in an interview in October 2009, it is Soros’ opinion that marijuana is less addictive but not appropriate for use by children and students. He himself has not used marijuana for years.
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Of course, the world’s richest folks like Soros want to control marijuana via their pharmaceutical industry.
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So the same, fellow billionaire Brit Rich Branson is a marijuana legalization fella
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http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/jan/26/exworld_leaders_form_global_drug
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13625241
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Scrub Tanaka 1915-2006 was Gov. Jack Burns’ 1909-1975 strategist — Scrub would’ve supported moderate Mufi vs. Abercrombie, & Scrub would’ve supported moderate maverick Case vs. ole’ boys crony Hanabusa [Hanabusa/Hirono cancel out each other].
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Abercrombie’s clueless PR —
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/131358548.html?id=131358548
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[Abercrombie’s prior director resigned under pressure]
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Gov. Linda Lingle’s communications director Lenny Klompus was the 1st actual PR specialist, but sadly for Lenny — Linda rejected
much of Lenny’s advice especially because Linda thought she knew better. NO, she did not. Like ALL other former Hawai’i Governor
“press secretaries,” [except the most effective one ever, Gov. Waihee’s open-natured loving chief Chuck Freedman B.A. English, but with policy/planning/strategy background OEO etc., formerly of Hilo],
Linda was a journalist, even though she was the Teamster media relations person. Gov. Wilder King & Gov. Quinn had 442 AJA Kaua’i
scribe Nakatsuka, Gov. Burns had Star-Bulletin scribe Horio, Gov. Ariyoshi had broadcast journalist Bob Wernet, & Gov. Cayetano had
atty. Jackie Kido. Like County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi, Kido was a fish out of water in understanding PR/public affairs. Because my
dad was an Abraham Lincoln/Dwight Eisenhower GOP 442nd combat infantry Silver Star recipient, I knew the pre-1959 Statehood
press sec. Nakatsuka [Gov. Quinn lost to Gov. Burns in 1962] & later press secretaries [I was with the Democratic Party from Wainaku
as a teenager during Gov. Burns’ terms in office]. I still respect GOP platforms such as Gov. Romney’s & even secret moderate Gingrich.
No, Dylan Nonaka is not my kind of GOP “operative,” but a clueless opportunist.
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My shan-shan workaholic hero is sansei [3rd generation Japanese in America] Bert Mukai born 1956 who’ll be 55 yrs. old next month. Bert exemplifies the work ethic. His late dad loved green color, so Mukai vegetable motor wagon [the only one in existence] & farmers market & vegetable & flower store were all painted green.
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Tokuichi Tsuji 1881-1973 was a Kona Issei who was a cook for our missionary descendant Waterhouse family, & was enabled by benevolent Waterhouse to entrepreneurship/able to get bank loans [Waterhouse bank prexy] & become our mega-Sunrise Soda works baron. Benevolent paternalism bestowed by missionary Matthew 5/Isaiah 58. Stateside Whites competed with Issei for middle class jobs, thence Issei kotonks had to go into business [farming] for themselves, unlike Issei buddaheads here in Hawai’i, who opted for entrepreneurship [no middle class Whites here, just elite Whites] via missionary benevolent paternalism. Yes, class warfare analysis. Tokuichi’s kids went on to become buddahead scions [Bill/etc.].
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion#The_God_Delusion_debate
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Gene#30th_anniversary
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory_landscape
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_(science)#Eschatology
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_(esotericism)
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/opinion/08krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/maureendowd/index.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Manstein#Senior_advisor
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Sumotori Kaio is no Chiyonofuji, Chiyonofuji 2nd only to Taiho/Futabayama at first.
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http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/sport/9845694/sumo-kaio-surpasses-great-chiyonofujis-win-record/
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http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=753&catid=21&subcatid=138
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The WWII Hilo Chong St. [Charlie Chong-manville] billet which was POW “camp” looked like any other billet you saw from the WWII era. I respectfully ask why the focus on Camp POW?? No enemy soldiers/sailors/flyers of note were detained there, though such info was “classified” to begin with. Our Axis enemy aliens [Japanese/German/Italian]transitioned to Sand Island O’ahu. Post-WWII Okinawa laborers briefly transitioned from POW camp down to Keaukaha billets across Hilo Yacht Club.
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Nicki Garces
Resource Center Coordinator
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i2454 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
Phone: (808) 945-7633 Ext. 42
Fax: (808) 944-1123
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from Tom Whitney —
Gladys and Curtis
Gladys and I are intrigued about the story and want to learn more. Gladys, who lived in the general area, had heard that Italian POWs were held there. She doubted that, but did find a website that indicated that Italian POWs had been held at remote locations in many state including Hawaii.
The focus on (whatever was the camp was called on Chong Street off Kaumana; was it Chongville?) is because it our neighborhood and we want to find out what the history of it was. A fun detective story.
Who was detained there? Ruth Fujimoto thinks that Japanese “intellectuals” teachers, leaders of some kind were put there initially after Pearl Harbor, then transferred to Kilauea, then perhaps elsewhere.
I think an interesting part of the story is that many people of Japanese descent were not put in internment camps. Why not? What were the criteria? As someone observed, if they were, there would be no one to do the work. Ruth’s family was not interned. Was Gladys’s? Was yours, Curtis?
Tom
from Curt —
I’ll be there at Starbucks downtown on Kilauea Ave. at 10:00 a.m Steamy/Lily Chow told me that Steamy spoke w/Tom about the POW billet. The billet which was POW “camp” looked like any other billet you saw from the WWII era. I respectfully ask why the focus on Camp POW?? No enemy soldiers/sailors/flyers of note were detained there, though such info was “classified” to begin with. Our Axis enemy aliens transitioned to Sand Island O’ahu.
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BTW, Hilo internee Frank Arakawa’s daughters full-on love our 100th Batt./442nd boys, who saved our race, in his daughters’ opinion.
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After all, the fate of our race [Japanese in America] rested on the shoulders of our 100th Batt./442nd boys. Yes, Frank & family were imprisoned 1941 to 1945.
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Imagine, Sanji/Frank/Wilfred Tsukiyama were WWI doughboys Co. D [all-buddahead Hawai’i infantry]. Yes, the 100th/442 were not our first segregated buddahead combat teams.
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I love you, and I will never leave you
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Somewhere inside of everyone is the longing to hear the words, “I love you, and I will never leave you.”
Commitment is more than you ever knew you were to give. Which defies the counterculture B.S. that “if you love someone, set him/her free.” No, hunger after your loved one, choose such person with your mightiest heartbeat. Escape plan/exit route are not options, with true love. Commit to such person from the deepest part of your soul. No if, and, but about it. In surrendering yourself to love such person, you will find an even greater love in return, a mutuality twice or more as powerful as the love you earlier surrendered. Of course, if you do not find the love of your life, remember that you are guaranteed such person in the afterlife. Hope and redemption, allowed by Grace.
Romance and true love never die, here or in the afterlife! Pololei
[righteously].
From extraordinary poet Jodi Hill
I wish for you an imperfect life –
the wealth that comes from knowing loss …
and the love, felt deepest,
by those who have been carved by pain.
I hope that you can value this imperfection,
hold on to it, so it gives you such comfort
that you will dare embrace the beauty
of all the imperfect lives that surround you,
and then you will be perfectly free
to step to the beat of your own imperfect heart,
and you will have truly lived.
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Jesus always embraced the reproached,
the outcasts, of society, knowing that
these imperfect ones had a closer affinity
with God, more so than the overproud
decadent sentients in mansions & palaces.
To Jesus, imperfection is beautiful, as we
grow in God’s Holiness. His Holiness, is
not outcome dependent for us on earth.
And Jodi Hill’s final heartstopper missive –
Learning The Hard Way
You gave me a vision,
Of what life was to be,
You showed me the world,
What I was to see.
You promised me love,
Said you’d always be there.
To lend me a hand,
To show me you care.
We walked through the days,
Never rushing our steps.
We cherished our time,
For our time …well spent.
Then suddenly one day,
You came and took your love away.
As my heart began to sever,
I knew you were gone forever.
But not a tear did I cry.
I rushed through the days,
By myself, all alone.
I cherished our memories,
Although my angers grown.
Then one day I thought of you,
And sighed a bitter sigh.
The long awaited sadness,
Pierced my heart and … I cried.
I cried for …the empty dreams,
That people have these days.
I cried because I had a dream,
And … it slipped away.
I cried because a love like ours,
Was always meant to last.
To endure throughout eternity,
The present, …future, the past.
Although I wouldn’t have changed it,
In my heart I know it’s true.
A lesson learned the hard way,
Was the price of loving you.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/learning-the-hard-way/
Wow!! Lamentation!!
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From incredulous jesus incarnate Steven
Kalas born 1957, a man wise way beyond
his years, as was Jesus –
Once, during a long drive across the Sonoran Desert, I asked my biological father, whom I had not known existed till I was 18 and in college — the question I’d long held in my heart: “So, it’s 1959. You’re in Seattle. You get a letter from a law office in Arizona, asking you to sign the enclosed affidavit, severing parental rights with your daughter and son [me]. You find a pen. What goes through your mind as that pen descends to the paper?”
“I thought your mother married well,” he said blithely, simply, without hesitation.
I didn’t comment. But, within myself, I pondered the astonishing world wherein fathers can be convinced that fathering begins and ends with providing. As long as somebody is providing — in my case, an adoptive stepfather — then your job is done.
But it happens the story had a sequel, which I didn’t hear until years later over a few too many beers. Quite in passing, my birth-father told me that, after he left my mom, he had an elective surgery. A vasectomy.
He went on talking, but, inside, my mind raced. 1957. A healthy, single, 26-year-old American male steeped in a culture of patriarchy and virile machismo presents himself voluntarily to a doctor for a vasectomy? Unheard of! He dodged me that day in the car. Shrugged off my question. THIS WAS THE DEEPER TRUTH. It broke his heart to lose his children. And so he made certain he would never be a father again.
I let the moment go. I didn’t share my new theory with him. I tucked it away inside the vault of my own heart.
My birth-father died of pancreatic cancer as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were kicking the crap out of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 2003. “Well, Steven, it looks like you’ve made a good life for yourself,” were his last words to me.
The perfect last words. Man to man. Neither presumption, denial nor apology. All would have wasted our time. And he was done wasting time. I kissed him on the forehead, and turned my car toward Nevada.
If ever you have the choice between redemption and bitterness, choose redemption.
People who cherish great love are intentional about nurturing “connectedness.” Every day they wake up with some part of the brain asking and answering this question: How today will I let my loved one know that I’m lucky to know him or her at all?
Words. Touch. Service. Solicitation. Inquiry. Attention. Interest. Who in their right mind would put such things on a budget? Or ration them, like maybe you might run out? How can “miser” be a rational response to the gift of great love? The president of the United States during global, thermonuclear exchange is not without the 45 seconds a day it takes to text, e-mail or voice mail the words “I love you.”
Nobody goes to heaven and complains: “Well, it was OK I guess, but I was loved too much and too often by too many people. Sheesh, people were always telling me they loved me. If I never hear those words again it will be too soon.”
See. Nobody says that. Nobody. Love. It will nail your feet to
the floor. Like nothing before or since. “I love you, and I will never leave you.” Never, before or since.
Choose a view of the world that matches the beauty and the power of your empathy.
An elderly husband chides his elderly wife incessantly in the supermarket about making sure to buy whole wheat bread, and
not white bread.
Two aisles later, the husband looks at the list and notices aloud they’ve yet to find chewing gum. The wife, eyes feigning utter sincerity, says, “Maybe they have whole wheat gum.” Hubby makes as if to scold her, and walks away muttering with a smirk, then a smile.
Truthfully, he’s flattered. He admires her moxie, that she won’t take crap from him, even when he’s technically right. He needs for her, to let him know he’s a little full of himself, a little pretentious. Her intimate ironic comment keeps them close together. As always before and
hereafter.
Love conquers all [fear]. The power of love. Love never dies,
now or hereafter! 
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Daybreak’s wonderful ray of light —-
Sunrise dawn Alaula bears her gift of vision and clarity in our walk with Christ.
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KingLit Ching born 1936 comments on my tribute to Roxie [Daybreak’s wonderful ray of light] —-
Re: Tribute to Roxie
Curtis,
This is beautiful inspiring poetry. It has a mystical Hindu element from ancient Vedic sources hidden by the passage of time. It is a mother that emerges from the Upanishads guiding us in solitude to a higher meaning and realization of our destiny. This mysticism was formulated in hermitic circumstances. It is beautiful. – KL
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/opinion/29dowd.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiplinger%27s_Personal_Finance
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racism in Hawai’i —
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http://live.washingtonpost.com/eugene-robinson-07-19-11.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/opinion/15krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gops-dangerous-debt-game/2011/07/14/gIQAB4gyEI_story.html
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Emi Oishi of most successful Core One Group Inc. ad agency is like KingLit Ching’s
“oldest daughter” hanai because she lived with KingLit’s family in Hawaii and in Los Angeles. Emi was the student body president of Kaimuki
High School and the #1 rated girls tennis player. She was very close to KingLit’s reknowned father Rev. Hung Wai Ching and confided a lot in Rev. Ching. Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 is our great wayfinder/destiny-maker, and eldest child/son KingLit Ching born 1936 is our own David Suzuki [also born 1936] of biology fame.
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big business & campaign contributions —
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110630__Ruling_deals_blow_to_public_financing.html
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public school educators —
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Civil rights guru A. Philip Randolph was homosexual & as a result was relegated to 2nd team in legacy.
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http://nbjc.org/news/a-philip-randolph.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Randolph#Marriage_and_family
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Takayanagi legacy
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/370001
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanita_Morrow_Nelson civil rights leader
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Moses — the essential prophet of the founding of the U.S.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-feiler/moses-vs-jesus-who-is-ame_b_311043.html
On July 4, 1776, immediately after passing the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress asked Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams to design a seal for the new United States. Six weeks later they made their recommendation: Moses, leading the Israelites across the Red Sea.
Three of the five drafters of the Declaration of Independence and three of the defining faces of the Revolution proposed that Moses be the face of the United States of America. In their eyes, Moses was our true founding father.
Four years ago I set out looking at the role of Moses in American life. I sailed on Plymouth Harbor where the Pilgrims compared their journey to Moses; I climbed the tower of Independence Hall where the Liberty Bell was inscribed with a quote from Moses; I retraced the Underground Railroad where “Go Down, Moses” was the national anthem of slaves; and I donned the robe Charlton Heston wore in The Ten Commandments.
One discovery surprised me most of all and reshaped my views of the culture wars of today: Moses has been more important to American history than Jesus.
Of course, Jesus was influential in American life. The United States at its founding was 100 percent Christian and is 75 percent Christian today. But as important as Jesus was to Americans’ private lives, he had far less influence than Moses on the great transformations of our public life. The themes of Jesus’ life — love, charity, poverty alleviation — would not make the list of the defining impulses of Americans.
The themes of Moses’ life, by contrast — social mobility, standing up to authority, balancing freedom and law, dreaming of a promised land — would make any short list of America’s defining traits.
Moses was more important to the Puritans. On The Mayflower, the Pilgrims carried Bibles emblazoned with Moses; they called King James their pharaoh; and they proclaimed their mission to be as vital as “Moses and the Israelites when they went out of Egypt.”
Moses was more important during the Revolution. Thomas Paine called King George the “hardened, sullen-tempered pharaoh”; Benjamin Franklin used Moses to help pass the Constitution; and George Washington was called “America’s Moses” for leading a beleaguered band of Colonists against the superpower of the day. When he died, two-thirds of the eulogies compared the “first conductor of the Jewish nation” to the “leader and father of the American nation.”
And Moses was more important during the Civil War. Slaves and Abolitionists rallied around Moses because he offered a precedent for escaping bondage; Harriet Tubman was so successful freeing slaves she was called “the Moses of her people.” Southerners, meanwhile, invoked the story, too, noting that Moses invited slaves to the first Passover.
It took America’s most Bible-quoting president to unite the country. Abraham Lincoln quoted the Exodus at Gettysburg, and, even though he was shot on Good Friday, Lincoln was more often compared to Moses upon his death. Eulogizers cited his freeing of the slaves and the fact that, like Moses, he died short of the Promised Land.
Not just American political events were shaped by Moses; American cultural figures were, too. The Statue of Liberty drew inspiration from the biblical prophet. The spikes of light around Lady Liberty’s head and the tablet in her arms come from the moment when Moses comes down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. Superman’s backstory also comes from the superhero of the Torah. Both figures were born to a people facing annihilation, floated to safety in a small vessel, then picked up and raised by strangers, before being summoned to save humanity. Even Superman’s original name, Kal-El, is Hebrew for “swift God.”
But it was Cecil B. DeMille who turned Moses into a hero of the Cold War. At the start of The Ten Commandments, which was released this week in 1956 and went on to become the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, DeMille appeared on screen to tell viewers the movie was about freedom versus communism. And at the end of the film, Charlton Heston quotes the words of Moses on the Liberty Bell and mimics the pose of the Statue of Liberty.
In recent years, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have all said they were inspired by Moses.
As historian Allen Guelzo told me, “The story of Jesus is extremely important. What is surprising is how persistently important the story of Moses remains.”
Why?
The answer, I believe, is that Moses represents the courage to leave oppression and create a better world. He embodies the American juggling act between freedom and law. And he encapsulates the desire to build a society that uplifts the downtrodden and nurtures the outsider.
For years, the culture wars have debated whether America is a Christian country. That debate misses the point. It was white male Protestants who introduced Moses into the American narrative, and his presence made it easier for blacks, Jews, and women to eventually integrate into American society. Precisely because he was invoked by left and right, Republican and Democrat, Jew and Christian, Moses may be the one cultural figure who can remind Americans of our common heritage and help restore a national conversation in how we can become a “promised land” once again.
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Edward of Laupahoehoe’s faladoo Frankie De Caires’ caregiver’s favorite song —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nearness_of_You
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The Great Slydini, the godfather of magicians —
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slydini#Style
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/pilot-s-rant-a-show-of-boorishness-not-ignorance-124935449.html
Trust me when I say that Captain Bob’s problem is not ignorance. It’s boorishness. Captain Bob is not stupid; rather, he is egregiously ill-mannered and painfully full of himself. You can’t educate someone out of Captain Bob’s predicament. He can only be converted. Until such conversion, common courtesy and social decorum rightly require that he keep his ugliness to himself. Or get fired.
Captain Bob doesn’t need diversity training. He needs a good finishing school.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/opinion/sunday/03dowd.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd
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In praise of Helen Shirota-Benevides born 1939 —
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Christine Lagarde And The Demand For Dollars
By Simon Johnson
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/opinion/01krugman.html?ref=paulkrugman
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carradine#Kung_Fu
David Carradine’s Kung Fu philosophy —
Kung Fu
For three seasons, David Carradine starred as a half-Chinese, half-Caucasian Shaolin monk, Kwai Chang Caine, on the ABC hit TV series Kung Fu (1972–1975) and was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award[9] for the role. The show, which took place in the “Old West”, helped to popularize the martial arts and Eastern philosophy in the west and immortalized the character of Kwai Chang Caine, also referred to as “Grasshopper”, in popular culture.
Although the choice of a Caucasian to play the role of Kwai Chang Caine stirred controversy, the show served as steady employment for several Asian-American actors in the U.S.[30] In addition to Keye Luke and Philip Ahn, who held leading roles in the cast as Caine’s Shaolin masters, Robert Ito, James Hong, Benson Fong, Richard Loo, and Victor Sen Yung frequently appeared in the series. Kung Fu ended when Carradine quit to pursue a movie career, but he reprised the role of Kwai Chang Caine in 1986 in Kung Fu: The Movie. Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, in his acting debut, portrayed his son.
Early in the 1990s, Carradine once again reprised the role of Kwai Chang Caine in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993–97) playing the grandson of the original character of the same name. Carradine starred in the program and served as Executive Producer and Director. The program offered him the opportunity to recreate the character for which he was most widely recognized. The show was canceled in 1997, after 4 seasons, and 88 episodes.
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Looney Teller aka Dr. Strangelove, who proposed noo-king our Saddle’s mauna to create a quicker route to Kona from Hilo.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove#Satirizing_the_Cold_War
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Teller#Oppenheimer_controversy
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Oppenheimer controversy
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Teller testified about J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1954.
Teller became controversial in 1954 when he testified against J. Robert Oppenheimer, a former head of Los Alamos and an advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission, at Oppenheimer’s security clearance hearing. Teller had clashed with Oppenheimer many times at Los Alamos over issues relating both to fission and fusion research, and during Oppenheimer’s trial he was the only member of the scientific community to label Oppenheimer a security risk.
Asked at the hearing by AEC attorney Roger Robb whether he was planning “to suggest that Dr. Oppenheimer is disloyal to the United States,” Teller replied that:
- I do not want to suggest anything of the kind. I know Oppenheimer as an intellectually most alert and a very complicated person, and I think it would be presumptuous and wrong on my part if I would try in any way to analyze his motives. But I have always assumed, and I now assume that he is loyal to the United States. I believe this, and I shall believe it until I see very conclusive proof to the opposite.
However, he was immediately asked whether he believed that Oppenheimer was a “security risk”, to which he testified:
- In a great number of cases I have seen Dr. Oppenheimer act—I understood that Dr. Oppenheimer acted—in a way which for me was exceedingly hard to understand. I thoroughly disagreed with him in numerous issues and his actions frankly appeared to me confused and complicated. To this extent I feel that I would like to see the vital interests of this country in hands which I understand better, and therefore trust more. In this very limited sense I would like to express a feeling that I would feel personally more secure if public matters would rest in other hands.
Teller also testified that Oppenheimer’s opinion about the thermonuclear program seemed to be based more on the scientific feasibility of the weapon than anything else. He additionally testified that Oppenheimer’s direction of Los Alamos was “a very outstanding achievement” both as a scientist and an administrator, lauding his “very quick mind” and that he made “just a most wonderful and excellent director.”
After this, however, he detailed ways in which he felt that Oppenheimer had hindered his efforts towards an active thermonuclear development program, and at length criticized Oppenheimer’s decisions not to invest more work onto the question at different points in his career, saying:
- If it is a question of wisdom and judgment, as demonstrated by actions since 1945, then I would say one would be wiser not to grant clearance.
Oppenheimer’s security clearance was revoked after the hearing, because of his many associations with the Communist Party and how he lied about some of those associations. Most of Teller’s former colleagues disapproved of his testimony and he became ostracized by much of the scientific community. Afterwards, Teller began to run with a more military and governmental crowd, becoming the scientific darling of conservative politicians and thinkers for his advocacy of American scientific and technological supremacy. After the fact, Teller consistently denied that he was intending to damn Oppenheimer, and even claimed that he was attempting to exonerate him. Documentary evidence has suggested that this was likely not the case, however. Six days before the testimony, Teller met with an AEC liaison officer and suggested “deepening the charges” in his testimony. It has been suggested that Teller’s testimony against Oppenheimer was an attempt to remove Oppenheimer from power so that Teller could become the leader of the American nuclear scientist community.
Teller always insisted that his testimony had not significantly harmed Oppenheimer. In 2002, Teller contended that Oppenheimer was “not destroyed” by the security hearing but “no longer asked to assist in policy matters.” He claimed his words were an overreaction, because he had only just learned of Oppenheimer’s failure to immediately report an approach by Haakon Chevalier, who had approached Oppenheimer to help the Russians. Teller said that, in hindsight, he would have responded differently.
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Enigmatic Karl Rove
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove
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Though no allegations have been proven or sustained, Rove’s name has come up in political scandals, including the Valerie Plame affair, the Bush White House e-mail controversy and the related dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy.
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Jesus makes clear that to forgive is to forget — propitiosity
“And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17
“God’s way of forgiving is thorough and hearty, -— both to forgive and to forget; and if thine be not so, thou hast no portion of His.” Leighton
A fella couldn’t get over being double-crossed by his longtime football buddy.
I tell him, “Brah’, you dwell in bitterness, not in Jesus’ redemption. Choose — be loved by Jesus or your football pal? Forgive yourself, don’t blame yourself for being a fool for redemption [of embracing fully life attendant w/risks of failure-rejection-derision-scorn].
You cannot control the destiny of your football friend, but you can master your attitude about yourself, of course with Jesus’ guidance/inspiration. Heavenly Father says that to forgive in our propiosity/divine revelation actually is to forget, brah’. Your failure, your hurt, your humiliation, visualize a box cupped in both hands, put all of your unbearable/unthinkable worlds in this little box — and give it to Jesus, brah’. Release yourself, distance yourself, from these worlds inside this box, and unburden yourself to Jesus. Give it to Jesus, brah’.
And just as you forgive yourself, you gonna’ be shocked & amazed how easily it’ll be forgotten. All praise to Jesus, brah’, all praise!!”
And this fella then let out a long-held sigh, and bowed his head, then raised his head, with a lovely glow and a handsome smile on his face. Faith, obedience, endure to the end, in Jesus — works wonders. Remember, faith is not outcome dependent. But Faith is about attitude, of the divine sort a la Revelation.
Love for now and forever.
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No one has God on you — your line is direct
Ili’s greatest inspiration is Jesus, who leads her in all ways, including but not limited to these Truths – 1) Do not be ashamed of who you are, because God is not ashamed of you, inasmuch we are all children of God — no one ever is forsaken; 2) retribution is not part of our God, inasmuch our God is not a punishing God — our God suffuses Grace/Love evermore — thence, do not do the same thing to the abuser/perpetrator which wrongly was inflicted upon you by such abuser; and most important – 3) no one has God on you — you have a direct line/link to God.
Ili knows that God’s Grace canopies us all, and Grace is unmerited/unearned, so humble/submit ourselves to God’s love for us all. Ili feels that nothing in her life is so unbearable so long as Ili submits to God, so that we are grateful for everything. Thence, Ili feels that anything is better, not worse, vis a vis the hand that is dealt her, so that Ili humbles herself and is grateful for everything.
Ili’s ultimate blessings are that Grace is God’s love, and we forgive as well as entreat/beseech for forgiveness from others in our helpless mortal/deficient condition.
What’s the higher truth is Ili’s time-tested resolution to mortal challenges, to make peace with herself, and to submit to God, to the very end. Ili’s pulsating line is “What do I know?!” The greatest of all spiritual leaders always keep check of their strengths/weaknesses via this query.
Tabula rasa [no preconceived notions] mark Ili’s openness. Ili 1) processes 2) integrates her experiences into her point of being here/in the Moment, so to speak.
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Jesus comes to transform people into their whole and authentic selves — Pick up your Cross and Follow Me
Ahh, to transform into something larger than our failed selves, such that Faith is not egocentric, not outcome dependent. So that when one listens to another regale of Jesus’ blessing, remember that nine times out of ten, outcomes are not what we desire, inasmuch such “blessing” may be among the rare 10% counted as positive results.
Such failure/shortcoming are our test of Faith, that Faith is not outcome dependent, but contingent on our total complete surrender to Jesus, and obedience in Him, with Faith in Him to endure to the end. Our unction/Holy Spirit directs our inner resolve quietly yet vigilantly.
When John the Baptist sorrowed over Jesus’ failure to see John the Baptist in prison, John the Baptist being held captive to be beheaded/decapitated, John cried out why hath the Messiah forsaken John the Baptist??!!
To which Jesus intoned via missive to John the Baptist, “Blessed are those who take no offense in Me.” Luke 7:24 And “blessed are those who hath patience in Me.” Matthew 19:14
The dearest phrase among devout Christians is that evoked by John the Baptist, “He must Increase, and I must decrease.” John 3:30
Of course, when John the Baptist was martyred, Jesus declared, “Hath no greater man walked the earth than John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:11
As brilliant sage Steven Kalas born 1958 says, Jesus comes to transform people into themselves. Their whole and authentic selves.
Jesus doesn’t say, “Pick up my cross and follow me.” He doesn’t say, “Help me carry my cross and follow me.” He says, “Pick up your cross (the cross that is uniquely your own life) and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
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Longing for matedness from cogent pundit Steven Kalas
From tremendous sage Steven Kalas born 1958 –
Nope, I don’t help people be OK with being alone. I invite them to embrace their longing for matedness. To dig deeply into it. To feel every bit of the ache. To let that deep longing become a team of powerful horses, pulling their hearts and lives into the future with vitality, intention and authenticity.
As to bracelets which read “What would Jesus Do?” Steven states —
Psychology, as a whole, is a lot friendlier to religiosity than widely thought. Both Freudian and Jungian psychology, for example, are useful models for inquiring after the measure of healthy religion. Or unhealthy.
C.G. Jung especially was compelled by what he observed as the “religious instinct” — the drive inside every human heart for transformation and wholeness, the instinct to reach for some paradigm greater than self as the only real path for finding a whole self.
Yes, Jung agreed, inside every human heart is a personal archetype of the divine. Jews might call this the Imago Dei (the image of God). Jung, reflecting his own Western culture, called it the Christ archetype.
But Jung issued a stern warning: Thou shalt not ego-identify with the collective Christ archetype. That’s fancy psychoanalytic talk for “thou shalt remember thou is not God.”
Next, the theology …
In baptism, God does not call folks to be Jesus. Neither has God called a Christian’s best celebrity impersonation of Jesus. God calls the inititate. The unique person. What Christians imitate in Jesus is not Jesus. They imitate the way Jesus was willing to be wholly and authentically Jesus, even at the cost of reputation, family and eventually his own life. Jesus does not come into the life of a Christian pilgrim to transform him/her into himself. No, he comes to transform people into themselves. Their whole and authentic selves.
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Go after true love — go for it!!
Go after true love, why be alone and lonesome? Go for it. Be real, be authentic and loving and intimate and nourishing. We are not meant to be alone, not when there are good people filled with positive hearts and souls.
Look at the Parables, which take up one-third of our Bible. The Parables say that when you least expect it, God shows up!!
Lookee here, Someone shows up!! Of course, one’s walk in Faith is paramount.
This is a treacherous walk, because we sentients are broken. But it’s a tragedy if we live out of our brokenness, instead of beyond it.
We decide to have the courage to be loved and likewise, that we/I want to love and cherish, till eternity. This is the righteous
path, to endure to the end.
Wishing is easy but senseless. I choose life. And the boundless joy which comes with it.
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In Praise of Providential Sarah
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Sensual & beautifully erotic [as in blockbuster 1997 movie Titanic’s character Rose, played by esteemed thespian Kate Winslett] Sarah is a walking work of art, she of melodious and tender vocal timbre. Her super classy demeanor/nature are beyond compare. Reprise the beauty and the majesty of our Biblical Matriarchs Sarah/Rebekah/Leah/Rachel, the most desirable women of our Biblical Patriarchs Abraham/Isaac/Jacob. Sarah is a wonderfully positive exemplar for all who appreciate purity of heart and soul. She is my leader for all time. Auld lang syne.
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the great Reba —
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2VvzG4JaQU&feature=related
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Redemptive suffering — self-sacrifice for the good of another
Redemptive suffering means to grace/forgive a plight/fate/person for your self-sufferance which averts another person from suffering, typified by Scripture’s Hath No Greater Love than to Lay Down One’s Life for Another. John 15:13
Traditional Catholicism’s redemptive suffering about punishment and more punishment wholly is off the mark. This is the Vatican’s spool to rope you in for indulgences/money. Its golden rule is whoever has the gold rules, straight from our Pontiff’s pulpit.
Dostoevsky dives into the dual nature of suffering — orthodox Catholic punishment, and Dostoevsky’s Sonya as the whore/saint who suffers because of and for others, and thus becomes most Christ-like as Sonya Grows in His Holiness, no matter her social standing/economic status on our mortal plane.
Magnanimous Victor Frankl’s exemplar of the old man who finally realizes that his suffering the loss of his lifelong dearest companion wife allows her not to suffer if her husband had died before her — releases this husband from his misery and pain of losing his wife. He suffers because of and for his departed wife, and such suffering finally is accepted with tremendous equanimity by the heretofore tormented husband. Redemptive suffering!!
And as with extraordinary sage Steven Kalas’ example about his biological father who gave up Steven born 1957 and his older sister for adoption to Steven’s biological mother and her new husband when Steven was just one year old, to afford Steven and his sister a better life with Steven’s biological mother & adoptive father — at which time Steven’s biological dad chose a vasectomy — THIS WAS THE HIGHER/DEEPER TRUTH!! It broke dad’s heart to lose his children. And so he made certain he never would be a father again!! The Ultimate Disguised Blessing is that Steven’s biological dad’s vasectomy exemplified/suffused of redemptive suffering a la Dostoevsky’s Sonya/Frankl’s exemplar of the old man.
So if you have a choice between redemption/forgiveness and bitterness, choose redemption, no matter how difficult emotionally it is!!
Just the same, cogent Amy Aihara evokes of Biblical David, that David lamented incessantly over the death of his infant son, interceding/interposing that David desired that David’s life end so that his infant son lives, to no avail. But voila! As suddenly as death came, so suddenly did God expiate/purge David of David’s guilt/remorse, God allowing Grace upon David, so that David was able to forgive himself!!
Of course, God had much greater plans for David, such that among our most auspicious passages in Scripture is God reposing in, “Look at David, he’s after God’s [My] Heart!! 1 Samuel 14 [A Man After My Own Heart]
If ever you have the choice between redemption and bitterness, shower rainbows of redemption!!
Love never ends, here or in the afterlife.
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The gift of giving, nonsensical as it sounds
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I vowed to myself that last December’s one special day of the year for me, when I reckon I cry to be pampered and spoiled, coddled and caressed, felt to climax in mind-blowing ecstacy — that instead of being forsaken to indifference and irrelevance, and relegated to heartbreaking entropy and solitary isolated desolation — I’d pull a twist on fate and give to those dearest to me what I tap as my gift from within on my birthday, my “wish verses” of hope and happiness — after all, for what is a gift but to be shared — the gift of sharing is the Ultimate Disguised Blessing to what a gift really is — to share is the Highest Truth.
Unspeakably and unthinkably exceptional sage Steven Kalas born 1957, a person wise way beyond his years, just as Jesus was when Jesus self-actualized, transformed, and transcended the field of our failed human condition, at age 30 [akin back then to Steven Kalas’ age today], emotes most immensely of our gift of suffering to redeem our humanity, in service to Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice for us all by giving up His Life for our sins — in Steven’s heartstopper tribute to his dearest son here —
BEAUTY OFTEN COMES FROM THE BROKEN PLACES
STEVEN KALAS
HUMAN MATTERS
Pop, am I broken?”
I’m doing dishes, and the question catches me off-guard. Out of context. I turn, hands still in the sink, to see my eldest son, Jonathan, standing in the doorway. I offer him an expression of unknowing.
He points at the huge bandage on his right eye. He is convalescing from his fifth eye surgery in three years. He asks again, “Am I broken?”
My boy has Marfan’s syndrome. Named after Antoine Marfan, a French pediatrician, Marfan’s syndrome is an inherited genetic disorder of the connective tissue. A dominant gene encoding a protein. It has deleterious effects on vascular smooth muscle development.
Luck of the draw. A random outcome of throwing the genetic dice. It happens.
People with Marfan’s are tall. Long arms. Long fingers. Long legs. Absurdly ectomorphic. Once I learned about the disease, it was obvious, in retrospect. When Jonathan was born, it was like unfolding a ventriloquist dummy out of a suitcase. All arms and legs, with a boy attached.
I just thought he was skinny and tall.
But, in the early spring of his eighth-grade year, he walked up to me one morning and simply announced that he could see out of only the bottom half of his right eye. This time of morning, I expect “Are we out of Pop-Tarts? … Have you seen my shoes? … Do you have my lunch money?” But not, “I’m blind in one-half of my eye.”
Two doctors later, he was in surgery that night. His retina had spontaneously detached. It missed his optic nerve by a gnat’s whisker. The surgeon treated him like a man. Told him gently, clearly, but firmly, that this surgery might not save his sight. I have no idea where Jonathan found the grace and courage to absorb this news. His first lucid words upon awaking from anesthesia were simply, “Will I be able to see?”
He spent two weeks horizontal, face down, on a massage table.
And still, nobody knew what was really going on. The surgeon said that some people are just born with thin retinas.
In the fall of Jonathan’s senior year, he underwent a routine physical for basketball. There was an irregularity in his EKG. Now a referral to a pediatric cardiologist. One echocardiogram later, and Jonathan’s days in contact sports were over. His aorta was dangerously enlarged.
Now everything began to string together. Now it all made sense.
He took it. He stood up to it and with it. He marched on. Grieving, yes, his dreams about basketball, but somehow managing it all.
Tonight is the first real fracture in his noble armor: “Pop, am I broken?”
Now I understand his question. I move, wiping my hands on my pants, my heart breaking as I step toward him. And, you know, sometimes, for reasons I don’t understand, something takes over in the human heart. And just the right words pour out of your mouth.
“Jonathan … everybody’s broken. Everything is broken on this side of the grave. Nothing is completely as it ought to be.”
Indeed. Chaos relentlessly stalks the everyday sensibility of order and meaning and sanity, looking for a place to sneak in. This is the human condition. The nature of creation. Sometimes airplanes crash on your house while you’re barbecuing in the backyard. Sometimes tires blow, and cars, one moment speeding blithely toward a family vacation, are now upside-down in the median with broken and injured people inside. People die. Children are exploited and abused. Sometimes your most heroic efforts to love someone are not enough to make them stay.
And sometimes one stupid protein sitting on the wrong helix makes your retinas fall off and enlarges your aorta.
And then the rest of the words come. They pour out of my mouth as if dictated from a source way wiser than me: “All I can promise you, boy, is that, if you’ll endure, the most beautiful things in life come from exactly those broken places.”
He stares for a moment, incredulous. And then he does something he hasn’t done since he fell off his bike when he was 7. He lays his head on my shoulder and cries. Heaves his grief. I feel like Atlas, holding up the Earth.
Jonathan exchanged his heroism for another, deeper heroism. He leaned into his grief, his brokenness, and surrendered. For you see, that is the only way to make a path for the beautiful things to emerge.
The most beautiful things in life come from our brokenness. I promise you.
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Shower a rainbow for others
The capacity for gratitude is itself humility. Gratitude and humility are symbiotic. The only people who can say “thank you” are people who have learned of dependence and interdependence. The best of life is not a result of what shortfall we deserve, but the opposite, of simple yet profound indulgences and pleasures — a smile, a tear of joy.
Well, I totally appreciated your Shower a Rainbow for Others. Especially because you understand how devasted I was at the loss of my dad and later my mom. Thank you. You helped me get through it! You were my rainbow! aloha, denise
Triumph and tragedy
On the other hand, heroic failure a la Obama-thology
describes a person or group failing to accomplish their goal, but somehow gaining the metaphysical upper hand or becoming ennobled in the attempt.
Tragedy results in a catharsis [emotional cleansing] or healing for the audience through the experience/absorption of these emotions/
energy in response to the suffering of the characters in the drama.
embodiment of tragedy hopefully avert recurrence of such tragedy in the future.
Sista’s memoir takes a sympathetic look at people who find hope at an end, as in suicide to end emotional or physical pain. Paradox is that Sista’s memoir of 42 yrs. ago in my thread “What is the meaning of life” is the most life affirming recount I’ve seen. The characters have real struggles, but at the end of the storyline, I see more beauty in it and in life, even in its most difficult moments. And it’s such a short allegory! Sista’ conveys so much in relatively few paragraphs.
person who mystifies me, the so-called unspoken one, like baby brother Andrew was to Peter [Bible]. God has no use for pride, such that the meekest of the meek went on to lead, like Moses/Gideon. Look at King David. Lowly Nathan chastened shell-shocked David. Look at Joshua/etc. All unheralded/unsung
heroes. Tremendous symbolism of “never judge a book by its cover.”
Susan of Simplicity — the beauty of our unconscious
Susan Imanaka Segawa born 1953 was the 1st ever female asst. chief at Kulani Prison. Susan’s empathy [never giving up on a prisoner’s possibility to reform] is Susan’s greatest strength. Susan’s sensibility prevents egotism/overpride, just as Susan’s open-mindedness prevents greed/avarice. What Susan doesn’t realize is that her lifelong love for horses symbolizes the daring-do to overcome adversity/tests of faith, a la Amelia Earhart, or locally a la our greatest female leaders Ragna Rath (Palama Settlement co-founder with her husband), Mabel Smyth (Florence Nightingale incarnate), Sister Marianne Cope, and contemporaneously Denise Takashima born 1953 like Susan (unlike Hilo’s Susan, Denise is a Statesider and raised in Japan).
Susan has no career role models, but instead relied on her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, unlike Hilo female judge wayfinders Riki Amano/Sandy Pechter Song, who overcompensated by being bullish and as a result were not re-appointed. Unlike them, Susan’s feet are nailed to the floor, keeping Susan grounded-earthy-folksy. Of course, unlike them, Susan projects obedience (after all, Susan schooled to be a teacher/educator — a pigeon-holed female track), which enhances open fearless dialogue of felt necessity in Susan’s venue, a counter-intuitive plus, not a minus. Okay, only a minus to those who try to exploit Susan for her demure/modest Japanese girl typecast, such as Chico Robledo, who was ousted in an effort to reform our prison system. Susan, like Amelia Earhart, does not back down from a man just because Susan is a woman. But Susan is classy and magnanimous in standing up for herself, such as vs. Robledo.
Susan’s later Earhart counterpart is courageous flyer Elinor Smith, just as Susan’s military male counterpart is Holland Smith (Camp Smith O’ahu).
Vintage Susan??? Observe her as simply as you can. First thing out of her mouth this morning as Susan gazed across the vast expanse of hostess Roxie’s estate, “Look at that gorgeous grass (former pasture beyond Roxie’s estate border)!” I gotta’ treat Susan as if Susan is my own little girl/daughter — a child’s imagination at play here — innocent/pure/gentle/fresh. This is elemental Susan — pasture, horse. Not complicated/obtuse at all. Yet the deeper (or higher) truth — Susan shows up/is real-authentic. The ultimate disguised blessing is that for this one fleeting moment in time, you too can be a child again. Choose a view of the world which matches the beauty and the power of your empathy/imagination. Attitude is a choice, even if it might not determine an outcome. After all, faith, hope, happiness — are not outcome dependent. And prayer is not power. The Almighty Above is Power to Susan. Prayer is not magic or hocus-pocus. Prayer is not outcome-dependent. Neither is Susan’s choice of redemptive love for us all in any way outcome dependent. For Susan, love never ends, here or in the afterlife. It’s love, it’s all love.
Authenticity manifested by a person like Susan is not narcissism or self-centeredness.
It is a fluid transparency of self in all we do and with all whom we love.
Thus the great paradox – When we share ourselves authentically, those with whom we share find themselves confronted with an invitation to be themselves, too. They find their authentic story in the sharing of our own. Thus the gift of self or the gift of presence, as so tenderly expressed by remarkable sage Steven Kalas born 1958, a simple man wise way beyond his years, a la Grecian Aesop, a la Susan.
With Susan of life energy simplicity, feelings are evoked as if coming from a source way wiser than her — the most beautiful things in life come from things we take for granted — the green pasture, the dream state vision of the horse, with Susan’s eyes as her window into the beauty of nature, blessings from God.
Suffusing an “inner soul” within one’s deepest unconscious core is a cosmic attraction for discovering depth connections with others. Depth connections are a gift. A discovery. Not a decision or an achievement. They are inexplicably climactic, as expressed by cogent Steven Kalas. For Susan, this inner soul is the Holy Spirit within. And blessings pour out, from this Grace of God.
Grace shapes our ideas about suffering and healing. Grace shapes the way we apprehend human dilemmas and proceed in our attempts to ameliorate these dilemmas.
The unconscious is relentless in its desire to communicate authenticity and wholeness to the ego. Susan’s unconscious emotes via her gentle unadorned simplicity. Susan is real — a child of God. Pride gets in the way — for many of us — a most unfortunate condition for us all. Apparently not for Susan. Blessed of a child’s innocence & purity. This is Susan. Inspired by the Holy Spirit within. Pololei/righteous.
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Defining historiography
Narrative
Samuel Johnson 1709-1784 a unique biographer — Johnson is the most-quoted English writer after Shakespeare. High praise, considering that Shakespeare is the most important historymaker over the past millennia. Johnson used anecdotes/incidents selectively [“domestic privacies”] which revealed true character. Johnson is the father of biography. I use Johnson’s method to illustrate character change [such as Pastor Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002 going from “buddahead” J*p-beater to J*p-lover]. Johnson also is known for his aphorisms. Like Johnson, Henry Adams 1838-1919 revealed authentic character, not cheezy pop fluff pieces. Adams influenced modernist Art Schlesinger Jr. 1917-2007, as did Tocqueville 1805-1859. William James 1842-1910 [pragmatist] & David Hume 1711-1776 [utilitarian who also influenced William James] also influenced Schlesinger. Adams is from the famous U.S. Presidents’ Adams bloodline.
The fluid interpretations of our greatest moment-maker Pastor Hung Wai Ching and his destiny events [genesis of Jack Kawano and our ILWU via Hung Wai’s subscription to
purity/ideals of communist “everybody’s equal” in society, until Hung Wai saw the unalterable horror of despots Stalin/Mao] intrigue me to no end, with 1930s right wing libertarian
historians decrying Hung Wai’s FDR New Deal format, only to have them embrace Hung Wai post-WWII after Hung Wai became Stalin’s vehement foe — in retrospect, later libertarian historians softened up on the 1930s Hung Wai by dismissing Hung Wai’s youthful indiscretion as part of Hung Wai’s spiritual walk/evolution/metamorphosis. Such changing interpretations of past events like the attraction of ideal/pure communism to 1930s reformers like Rev. Hung Wai Ching are what historiography is all about. I use biography
genesis Samuel Johnson’s personal sequential method of “domestic privacies” to illustrate character change, just as incisive Lawrence Stone & Edgar Knowlton Jr. above discuss
personal narrative as the historian’s expression. In literature, stream of consciousness/free association emerged via Johnson’s method.
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Godly Line —
Biblical Joseph’s quality of mercy is beyond compare. Joseph said that it was all God’s glorious plan to have Joseph sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, where Joseph got abused time & again, only to manifest prophecy which catapulted Joseph to Princely status w/Egypt’s Pharoah, at which time Joseph averted starvation for the teeming masses, Joseph knowing and being of peasant stock, & Joseph averted starvation to his own brothers/father, saying that God’s Plan was for Joseph to suffer fools gladly to come back & avert starvation to his own jealous brothers as Egyptian royalty. The difference between a godly line & a sapient line is that those of a godly line recognize revelation, whereas those of a sapient line do not recognize such essential instructions/revelation. Malie is of a godly line, ever in dialogue w/the Holy Spirit/Ghost, always receptive to and cognizant of Divine Revelation, always in touch w/Jesus-God. Malie says that her cancer is her biggest disguised blessing which reaffirmed her faith in her Lord, and which catalyzed her to love to no end everyone in life and everything existent. Malie is Eleanor Roosevelt, anchored by love for all, Eleanor being the greatest First Lady in U.S. history. Eleanor averted mass internment of our 160,000 buddaheads WWII, via Pastor Hung Wai Ching 1905-2002. Even though Biblical Moses might’ve been in a trance as he wrote Scripture, such probable subconscious soul acutely recognized Divine Revelation.
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My greatest oyabun/sensei Steven Kalas –
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http://www.lvrj.com/living/ignoring-inherent-differences-leads-to-conflicts-119140544.html
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Marital conflicts tend to break down into two categories. First, is The Authentic Grievance, some quid pro quo injustice, betrayal or otherwise dereliction in the relationship. If you’re milling about at a party, and you step out onto the back porch to see your spouse French-kissing another person, then you probably have an authentic grievance.
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** The second category of marital conflict is lesser-known. Which is odd, because I’m convinced it’s the bigger of the two categories. I call it Failure to Respect and Negotiate Differences of Type and Temperament. Instead of respecting and negotiating inherent differences, we bicker about the “right” way to attack housecleaning. The “right” way to feel and think. The “right” way to express love and receive love. The “correct” definition of a fun vacation. The age-old feud regarding the installation of toilet paper rolls. (It’s installed with the paper coming over the top. I have spoken!)
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** Listen carefully to your marital arguments. They feel so righteous. They sound so righteous. You’re convinced that your confrontation of your mate ranks with Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on Washington. You are taking a stand for all that is just and true in the universe.
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** Except that it’s not “the” universe you’re defending. It’s “your” universe.
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** There’s a sure “tell,” a way to know that you do not have an authentic grievance; rather, you have a failure to respect and negotiate differences of type and temperament. That’s because, if you really step back and pay attention to what you are saying to your mate, it comes down to this: “Why aren’t you … more like me!”
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** Go ahead. Imagine saying it out loud: “Why aren’t you … more like me!” Embarrassing, yes? Painfully arrogant and entitled. If you’re laughing right now, that’s a good sign. It means you can feel healthy shame, and that’s important for growth and healing. And three cheers for your mate if he/she looks you square in the eye and delivers the one and only correct response to your condescending confrontation, that being, “Because then one of us would be unnecessary!” (For bonus points, feel free to murmur “doofwad” under your breath at the end of this sentence.)
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** The decision to respect and negotiate differences in type and temperament loosens my grasp on my neat and tidy and generally blind-as-a-bat universe, and invites me out into a much more roomy and creative universe. Specifically, into the actual universe. The universe in which I belong. The universe in which you belong, too. And, thankfully, in truly belonging, it becomes a universe that does not have me at its center. Or you.
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** It’s not just marriage. These two types of conflict abide in all important human relationships — friendships, families, at work, in politics and in love affairs. We argue and fight and “dig in” to self-righteous positions like a puffed up toad under a rock … when we should be learning about ourselves, about others, and then negotiating respect, joy and freedom in the myriad differences of type and temperament.
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“free ride” via HB 1626 or enact a new bond obligation akin to special improvement district below? ‘Tis the question, per conservatives
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Robert “Steamy” Chow born 1922 and Lily Aki Chow born 1927 — life partners in service to our community, especially our Chinese community
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JULY, 2011
Dear Mayor and County Council:
I am writing with great concern about the new building code changes now pending before the county council. Right now there are 4,800 of our Big Island families (11%, an increase of 1,800 in the last 2 years) on the affordable housing waiting list, seeking and waiting for a break. These new codes are killing the dreams for low cost housing and killing the building industry.
Let me explain the problem.
Right now, true affordable houses can be built here on the Big Island, and responsible ownership taken, for projects that cost total $100,000. Not the $240,000 the county defines as “affordable”, which most folks cannot afford. I have advised over a dozen of these as owner-builder projects, including for a bus boy, a waitress, others. All solid citizens, steady jobs, good credit, but cannot afford down payments for routine mortgages.
After private short-term bridge financing for the contracted construction, they now have enough equity in these projects (small 2-3 bedroom but basic houses on simple lots), they convert to standard bank mortgages, which they can afford as the monthly cost is the same as their present (and sustainable) rent payments. Their “down payment” is the equity in the project, which are now appraised correctly at about $125,000 and up.
These lower income folks now become home owners, and can build more equity, wealth. They can get ahead, finally.
These new building codes, on top of other requirements (such as $5000 for solar water heaters instead of $300 ones), increases the construction cost $25,000.
That’s a 25% increase. And now they CANNOT qualify for the traditional mortgages. The banks don’t say “oh, you’ll save $25,000 on your energy bills so no worries, you still qualify”
Which is not the real savings, in any case, as most of these code changes won’t save $ ever.
No way.
So this is how you keep folks in poverty, and deny truly “affordable” housing. And NO politicians, nor the reporters, are considering this aspect. They actually do not care. It’s all abut being green for green sakes, and no matter the costs to others.
These code changes increase poverty as a result, and needlessly.
The wealthy can afford them, the poor cannot.
Famed international economist Hernando DeSoto has made it his mission in the third world as the single best way of ending poverty is to get the poor but productive folks to be equity landholders, even if very small plots. He won numerous awards for such, including the International Freedom Award.
Proponents also claim they want our building codes revised to reduce heat emissions into the atmosphere, and reduced usage of electrical power for heating & cooling. In Hawaii that is nonsense, and is what happens when “International Building Codes” are forced down local throats. No common sense at all.
As for hurricanes, since the earliest Hawaii records in 1843, NONE have done any significant damage to the Big Island. None.
(SEE HERE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hawaii_hurricanes )
Do we really need new expensive “safe rooms” here , or the very costly alternative of the new increased structural standards on windows?
Has there been a cost-benefit analysis of any of this?
No.
I urge you not to allow these modifications to pass until full cost-benefit analysis is completed, with all these factors in mind.
aloha
Walter Moe, President
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Hilo educator French Joe Theroux is Paul Theroux’ baby brother. Paul was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, & joked w/Obama in Swahili, to which Obama said, “Yeah, that’s a slogan or something’!” Prophet Paul swore about Obama’s future as our coming U.S. President. Joe jokes that Henry David Thoreau is supposed to be French Theroux. Joeborn 1953 looks like a young Andre the Giant.
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Greatest lawmaker in Hawai’i County’s 106 year history
From Hugh Clark born 1940 –
Curtis, I know you pick Dominic Yagong born 1959 because of Dominic’s progressive reforms and continued fiscal responsibility. I know you come from both the left wing of the Democratic Party and Ike’s and Joe Farrington’s independent GOP.
In effectiveness, my vote goes to Democrat Ikuo Hisaoka 1914-2010 of all the council members I have seen from our Charter inception in 1969. In the prior supervisor board period I would have to consider Democrat Clem Akina 1898-1964 and GOP Jimmy Kealoha 1908-1983, if not the great unifier GOP Sherwood Greenwell 1919-2004 whose career spanned into the council era, as did Iku’s. I knew Iku well. I have seen both the pre-Charter and post-Charter lawmakers, and Iku was most effective because Iku was for his constituents, not for himself. Iku did not have much formal schooling, but Iku seemed driven and goal-oriented above and beyond his fellow lawmakers. I do not know what triggered Iku’s amazing sense of public service, because Iku never bragged about himself, this despite my knowing Iku about as well as anyone could outside of Iku’s own wife or Iku’s parents and siblings.
I remember Bonk, Safarik, and Higa, with short aborted reigns because they eyed their mayoralship instead of leading their County Council. Yagong will lead with a long productive reign behind him. Bob Rosehill has to be the worst I have seen, with Jim Dahlberg picking up the rear. –Hugh
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My tribute to Ikuo Hisaoka on his death [published in Trib & online] –
Ikuo Hisaoka was among our craftiest politicians. But no one knows that Iku’s brother’s death with the 100th Batt. [Gary — Silver Star medal] on the claret field of battle WWII inspired Iku to manifest “everybody’s equal” in tribute to his brother’s American Dream. Iku’s brother’s death had the most profound impact on Iku’s sense of public service — to protect the living and to honor the dead.
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Missouri as bellwether State —
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_bellwether
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Continued bellwether status?
One of the more important national phenomena that has not had the same impact in Missouri as in the rest of the country is the influx of immigrants, particularly Latinos. Analysts and journalists in recent times have pointed to states like Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and California as more accurate political and cultural bellwethers. As for Missouri, Slate columnist Chris Suellentrop has said that the state “isn’t so much a bellwether as it is a weathervane: It doesn’t swing the country, the country swings it…” and that Missouri is a better indicator of whether a trend is mainstream than of what the next new trend will be. In 2008 however, Missouri very narrowly voted for Republican John McCain despite a 53% winning percentage victory for Democrat Barack Obama and nationwide dissatisfaction with the Bush administration. As a result, its accuracy rate for the last 26 presidential elections is now about 92.6%. Ohio has about the same record of voting for the winning candidate in missing twice; it has voted for the winner of every presidential election since 1896 except for 1944 and 1960, with no Republican ever winning the White House without Ohio. Nevada has been carried by the winner in every presidential election since 1912, except just once in 1976. Also, New Mexico has voted for the winner of every presidential election from its statehood in 1912 except in the 1976 and 2000 elections; however, the New Mexicans gave their electoral votes to the popular vote winner Al Gore in 2000.
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Brains are not everything in life – wayfinder Pastor Hiro Higuchi’s son Peter as exemplar
From KingLit Ching born 1936, on Punahou classmate Peter Higuchi, son of destinymaker Rev. Hiro Higuchi 1907-1981 of Hilo Japanese Christian Church/442nd chaplain/my dad’s bosom buddy [Hiro’s dad Rev. Kwan Higuchi was our buddahead disciple over a century ago, Rev. Kwan presiding over our oppressed brethren next to today’s Trib site — today’s imperious gang at Lanikaula St.’s Holy Cross Church evolved out of Kwan’s humblest roots] —-
Curtis,
Peter is a huge admirer of Boise State football and considers Hawaii a 2nd class team that has played mediocre WAC opponents. Remember, Peter is a Punahou and Yale graduate so he has a warped elitist view of the world. He is also a member of Mensa and has a very high IQ which is useless in the practical world.
His eyes roll back when you backdrop native son President Obama with Grecian tragic hero hamartia [miscue after miscue mark the tragic hero], especially in light of Woodward’s revelation on my Punahou and Columbia and Harvard alumnus President Obama’s indecisiveness against our endless war brass poppers Petraeus and McChrystal.
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Self-aggrandizement — David was rich but godly in his heart/altruistic. JP Morgan’s whiz kids concocted CDS/credit default swaps 1994 to divvy up profits over hedge funds/derivatives [worthless paper], that fall like a house of cards. Pride/schooling — greed/stature — it’s not money that’s the root of all evil — it’s pinnacle love of money/vanity/ego that are the root of all evil. Prideful self-aggrandizement — buzzwords, “I was thinking to myself that … [I’ll feel good about building statues to myself ergo 501(c)(3) foundation].” Or “No, no, no, I would never condone or tolerate such [egocentric][sinful] behavior!” [like naming a charity fund after me alone][never mind that such I/I/I judge of others doesn’t judge himself in the mirror]. Local-style nouveau riche — Wil Souza mulled intensive/convex self-adornment, as did unrelated namesake J.R. Souza. Conversely, Biblical Nathan was a great prophet who straightened out David by showing who David really was by having David look at himself/David in the reflecting pool/water & judge himself by how David judges others!! Which is why prophets like Nathan are not welcomed in their own countries/lands — because they give you the honest Truth. Self-aggrandizers possess distinct markers — whatever they think/talk about, always come back to words like, “I come to the conclusion that …” or “Now, this is what I envision …” The “eyes” have it, the nays always lose [because it’s always about I/I/I, never about acknowledging/recognizing others over whom you have no vested interest in [“I want to name my philanthropy/foundation after my …” — my/my/my]. Self-aggrandizers wholly focus on themselves/their vested interests. Never do they even give a moment’s thought/empathy toward those/things they have no claim/credit to [GeorgeAriyoshi flaunts his mastery of himself in business mags/never do you see him acknowledge those who chastened him to be real/authentic instead of his phony self — naysayers like John Hulten/Kaz Abe/Elmer Cravalho]. Aloha, –Curt
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Donald Trump is our conceited 3-time bankrupt sycophant/rastignac. Donald can’t hold a candle to Mitt Romney, financially or otherwise. Donald’s boasted wealth is way over his actual net worth. Donald’s holdings are private, and his purported wealth is his deepest secret. Transparency is not in Trump’s vocabulary. Trump is everything we repulse at — overpride/jealousy/greed/anger-intemperance. Trump still has a chance to be a Parable incarnate [Parable of the Harvest, as a nailed to the floor servant of Christ], but unlikely at this point.
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Israel’s nuclear arsenal is its big stick vs. enemies near & afar –
The 5 large world powers are the U.S./European Union incl. Israel/Russia/China/India, all nuclear armed. Israel’s clout is its nuclear arsenal, even w/out U.S. support,
heaven forbid in traditonalists’ eyes. Egypt never amped its nuclear program because a nuclear war b/n Egypt & Israel is unthinkable. Even if Egypt falls to Islamic
extremists, these wingnuts would be lunatic to fight Israel’s nuclear arsenal esp. since today’s Egypt limits Hamas’ Gaza Strip. Jordan is in sync w/Israel in keeping the Palestinians in their proper place, so to speak, & in making sure that Syria doesn’t again invade Jordan, as it did in 1970. If, with Syria, surrendering the Golan Heights ensures peace, then so
be it, provided that matters of borders/water/security w/demilitarized zones-early warning stations can be resolved. No question, the stock market goes up sharply when peace
is ensured, although w/Israel’s nuclear arsenal, peace is not a solution for loss of Israeli security. Saudi Arabia is about oil, not destroying Israel, Lebanon & today’s decimated
Iraq are not major problems vs. Israel [though Iraq once was a major problem], nor is Iran. Since Sharon took Israel out of the Gaza Strip, the 2.5 million West Bank
Palestinians don’t jeopardize Israel, though if they do Israel will drive them back across the border as it did in 1948. Israel should disband the hamlets & withdraw to a line
as close as possible to the pre-1967 border. Israel today cannot thrive as long as a sovereign Palestinian people remain captive to Israel. A wall so high even birds cannot
fly over it and missiles cannot breach it, is a pipedream for Israeli nationalists. But it is critical to keep some kind of Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, ergo Wailing Wall. The hope of every Israeli parent that one’s child need not wear a uniform & serve in the IDF is long coming, & still a far-off ideal. Even militarist Netanyahu born 1949 with all of his military
history — should not inhibit original thought.
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In tribute to utter braveheart [redemptive suffering] Laura Munson, courtesy of everyone’s guru Steven Kalas
http://www.lvrj.com/living/woman-s-understanding-of-selfhood-saves-marriage-119997809.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/fashion/02love.html). Munson’s story simply blew me away. It is a story of courage, commitment and resolve beyond words. She just published the book “This Is Not the Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness.” I have not read it.
Munson’s husband of 20 years announced to her that he didn’t love her anymore, that he wasn’t sure if he ever did, that he didn’t like what her life had become, and that he had decided to move out. He told her the children would understand, that they would want him to be happy.
She was, of course, shocked, afraid, hurt. She is and was a normal human being having all the normal human feelings. But it is precisely there she astounds me, surprises me, inspires me.
Laura Munson doesn’t react out of fear or hurt. Essentially, she looked her husband right in the eye and said, “I don’t believe you.” He might as well have said, “There’s an evil leprechaun in the master bedroom closet, so I’m leaving.”
She didn’t rail against him. She didn’t beg. She didn’t threaten. She calmly rejected his every premise, and then asked, “What can we do to give you the distance you need, without hurting the family?” In her own words:
“I met my husband’s disaffection with our marriage with a gut response: ‘I don’t buy it.’ I felt his was a crisis of self, one I’d experienced after the loss of my father coupled with the stress of my own failure in my career. So I decided to simply get out of my husband’s way and be responsible for my own well-being despite his actions and sentiments.”
Munson’s marital saga ends in redemption, transformation and celebration. Her husband doesn’t move out, instead spending a summer being distant, unreliable, unavailable, not coming home after work, etc. She spent that same summer holding on tightly to herself. Loving her children, living her life, and loving her husband “from afar.” Slowly, surely, in bits and pieces, he comes back. Something reconciles inside himself, making it possible for him to return to participating in the marriage.
Munson’s credibility with me was sealed when she admits that, privately, there was a limit to the time she was willing to give him: six months. I assume she kept that boundary to herself because she could not have articulated it to her suffering husband without it sounding like a threat. An ultimatum. No, she did not set that boundary for him. The boundary was for herself. It was a way to measure the difference between an authentic act of sacrificial love and commitment as opposed to a destructive act of sacrificing authentic selfhood. The latter never produces a good outcome.
Laura, yours is an important story, and it has added to my thinking and my worldview. My meager thank you is to share a bit of lyric from a song I wrote, years ago:
So here you stand together, battle-scarred and worn/ The locks of fairy tales have fallen, long-since shorn/ Love has chose you, blessed you, crucified you/ See what you’ve become/ Love’s Purple Heart is won.
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I would’ve desired to live my life ever after with my most recent girlfriend, but it was not to be. Life goes on. I have a talk with myself to applaud my desire to love and to be loved, and that no matter how much time has passed from being dumped by my girlfriend, my feelings of loss [loss in love, not loss of love] are feelings of love which I appreciate and treasure till this day, though life does go on. 🙂
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http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/chinese-beat-columbus3.htm
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http://tomwhitney.net/newPuukohola.html
Klum was Rockne’s dearest friend, both Norway roots. Thence Knute Rockne’s Hawai’i connection.
compassion/humbleness/patience. It didn’t hurt that Pat’s “charges”/park kids were like his hanai sons [Pat had no sons], and they loved
him. The fact that Pat was a snow-white haole outsider from the Mainland makes it all the more remarkable that Pat was able to transcend
race/class/culture barriers which would’ve otherwise blocked close-unit cohesion [yes, military terminology for incredible cohesiveness — the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts].
calibre of Walter C.K. Victor in being among our greatest-ever sportspersons/encouragers of youth self-worth — self-esteem.
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from legendary Pat Brown’s granddaughter [Pat Brown 12/31/98-4/14/51 is our Knute Rockne of Ponahawai/Lincoln Park tenements Flapper era — buddahead godfather/oyabun Shigeto Froggie Yoneda worshipped Pat Brown][Pat’s baby girl Sheila Clark born 1934 always sported Connie Stevens sexiness & a fine pair of legs, my kind of gal 
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Lisa Hinkley Twigg-Smith
Comment: [subject of Kimo Henderson 1876-1965 legacy — Kimo our greatest philanthropist next to CC Kennedy]
Hi Curtis. I am amazed at this site! [I Curt formerly was at Big Island Chronicle until I got sick & tired of its editor’s blindly backing up its scribe thug vs. me] Thrilled, as I am writing for my four children, the story of my Hilo grandparents, John “Pat” and Irene “Duckie” Brown, whom I did not know growing up, as they passed away in 1951 and ʻ52, before I was born. My Aunt Sheila Brown Clark of Mt. View is my only living relative on this side of the family, and the source for much of my info, other than my late mother Patriciaʻs recollections I have. Sheila has mentioned your name as well as she gave me a copy of a HTH Urban Allen sports column from 1928, which you gave to her. I am glad that I found your blog. I would greatly appreciate any perspective on the Browns that you might have as well. I am interested in the friendship my grandfather had with a “Froggy” Yoneda. BTW, I am named “Lei” by my mother Patricia, who was given the name “Lei” by Lydia “Auntie Lei” Henderson, dear friends of my grandparents. Aloha from Holualoa!
mentioned. There is a book which is now out of print that has many photos of the old property in black and white along with Helen’s wedding photos. You might enjoy seeing it if you haven’t already see those photos. It’s called “The Songs of Helen Desha Beamer” I will continue to look for further info here. Thanks for putting this up.
I have seen many paranormal kinds of activity up there from a Shadow I believe to be Kimo Henderson walking up the stairs in the mansion, to feeling many unseen presences while I was in the forest which I found to be old gardens. I remember one time when I was in the mansion with my friends, and we heard this “thud” sound from the second floor near the bathroom. We went up there to investigate and I saw it was a picture of Jesus walking on the water that fell off the wall. I wish someone would invest money to rebuild that place!
Many years after I moved away from that place, which I was great-full in a way; I went back there to visit. I felt as if I was “remembered” and I felt like I was being followed as I walked toward the “back house” where I grew up in. I was told the back house was the maid and butlers house. There were some nights when I was left alone up there, and the power would go out while I was watching TV. I remember the routine to feel my way through the darkness down the hall to the kitchen, where I would turn on our gas stove to light a candle, so I had some type of light. I remember some times when I felt there was some other presence in the house when no one was there. My mom said she found an old poi-pounder up there. When I asked her what happened to it…she said it must of returned itself back to the land.
I would love to sit down and talk-story if you all would like too. Better yet, if you all can get permission to go on to the land to explore, I would Love to show you all the places I found. Mr Joe Ventura showed me where the pool was, and I stumbled across what I was told later, was the old bomb shelter. I would love to go back there to explore…and maybe play some Hawaiian Style Slackey for Mrs Henderson.
I still have dreams where I am in the mansion and I am chasing/playing with the spirits there…I love that place so much!Isaac Kawika Nahakuelua808-989-0739
I hate that Facebook has turned the perfectly good and useful noun “friend” into the ugly gerund “friending.” As in when people whine, “I friended you and you didn’t friend me back!” You’re kidding me, right? Or as in, “I have 312 friends on Facebook.” And I bite my tongue to keep from saying: “No. You don’t. No one has 312 friends. Finite beings cannot have 312 friends. Unless they have no friends at all. It’s more that you have 312 acquaintances. Or, maybe ‘trophies’ is a better word.”
I’m not the first to observe the irony of two people, sitting down together for lunch, each spending the entirety of the lunch date intermittently texting with people who aren’t there having lunch! More than once I’ve been rightly reprimanded by my children for pretending to be with them while really focused on my cell phone.
“The Light of Other Days” (2000) is a science fiction novel by Arthur Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It’s a terrific yarn about the invention of “the wormhole camera.” With this technology, you can sit in front of your computer screen and point a viewing lens at any coordinate, behind any door, into any home, bedroom or bathroom, and view what is occurring there in real time.
The technology gets out. Becomes inexpensive and available. The result? The abolition of human privacy. Forever. Sure enough, the new technology evokes the darker human instincts. The next thing you know everybody is spying on everybody. Watching neighbors, friends, co-workers and strangers shower and having sex. Spouses no longer have to trust each other; they monitor each other. There are no private conversations. There are no private acts. Privacy is obsolete. A vestige of the past.
At the very end of the book, the inventor of the wormhole camera walks in a public park at midday. Over on a picnic bench is a young, college-age couple. The couple is passionately kissing, then they have sex. Right there in the park. Right there in broad daylight. The scene is startling but, later I thought, so logical. If you abolish privacy, then you condition the populace to laud shamelessness.
I’m saying that authentic intimacy requires boundaries. Containment and privacy. Authentic intimacy requires rigor, concentration and continuity. In that it requires time and space. A Buddhist parable says, “He who has many friends has no friends.” That has never been truer than in our culture.
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Keoki Kai’s epic genealogy:
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John Kai Jr. 1878-1962 is Keoki Kai’s great grandpa & the Warren Buffet of Hilo exactly a century ago [also was among our earliest non-haole GOP leaders]. John’s paternal grandma [John Sr.’s mom] Lukia Kahilo was among the 1st converts to Catholicism, being baptized in 1841 at age 25. John Jr.’s maternal grandpa was granted land via the Mahele, where Jr.’s home was built [today’s senior citizen housing on Haili St. mauka of Haili Church] after earliest mixed Haw’n-Chinese entrepreneur/entertainment mogul Sr. earlier lived [Adam Baker came later] at Haili St. location, inasmuch Jr.’s maternal branch was descended from kapu chiefs of Ka’u. John Jr.’s paternal grandpa Tang Hung Sin from southern China [Hong Kong/Macao areas] was our ubiquitous pioneer sugar master known as Akina [earliest sugar master on Big Island was GOP Archie Hapai’s ancestor Ah-pai 10 yrs. before Tang Hung Sin aka Akina]. Akina also lived at/owned an acre of prime land NW corner Waianuenue/Kino’ole Sts. [later VHY site/today’s aged 1911 concrete bldg. site mauka of downtown P.O. Federal Bldg. across Kino’ole St. in acreage where Alu Like Office is]. Governor John T. Baker’s nephew Adam Baker of movie theater fame married Jr. Kai’s wife Annie’s sister Hannah Akamu, Adam the grandson of British sea captain on one side, & on the other of Pupuhi, a Tahitian Christian who came to Hawai’i w/the Rev. William Ellis in 1823. Of course, Gov. John T. Baker was the man who posed for the statue of King Kamehameha the Great. John Kai Jr.’s wife Annie’s mama A’lai & her 2nd husband Akana housed the father of modern China, revolutionary Sun Yat Sen, at their home at what is today Haili/Keawe St. junction [Union 76 Service Station site]. Sun Yat Sen would not have overthrown the Manchu Dynasty/imperial despots if not for the financial & manpower support of A’lai/Akana/all of Hawai’i Chinese immigrants-progeny incl. John Kai Sr., all of whom were from Sun Yat Sen’s southern China homeland [Hakka were oppressed & revolutionaries, vs. urban Punti people of Southern China]. Sun spent a total of 7 yrs. in Hawai’i!! Perhaps foreordained, that A’lai, descended of immigrant sugar master Tong Ai Yee, was born in 1856 when a Mauna Loa lava flow nearly overran Hilo, and turned 25 yrs. old when the 1881 lava stopped, its south edge corner Mohouli/Popolo Sts. today, its north edge at Sunrise Ridge above Komohana St. along so-called Kukuau gulch. After all, A’lai & her family prayed for Princess Ke’elikolani to stop the lava flow, which Ke’eli did via 30 red silk scarves/fine brandy along Ponahawai trail. Of our greatest mixed Chinese-Hawaiian government leader Ernie Kai 1905-1990, son of Annie Akamu Kai, grandson of Annie’s mom A’lai [older brother of Jack Burns’ destiny-builder government labor chief George Kai Sr., father of great athletes Pee Wee & Johnny Kai, Pee Wai 1940-1996 is greatest PR pundit Keoki Kai’s dad] — “…For once you have known someone [like Ernie, Acting Gov. & earliest Asian chief Attorney General WWII era], the years cannot erase the memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face. For such name stands for one who has touched my life sometime, and in that meeting has become the rhythm of the rhyme…I really feel I’m composed of each remembered name, my life is so much better than it was before you came.” [author unknown] Love endures, –Curt
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* * * * Rhythm of the Kai ohana — Akina-Kahilo [among first Chinese sugar masters in Hawaiian Island archipelago marries earliest local female convert to Catholicism]. *
* * next [second] generation — * Keoni Kai Sr., son of Akina & Kahilo [Keoni Sr. is earliest Haw’n-Chinese entrepreneur/entertainment mogul], marries Ka’u ali’i, & Keoni nurtures son Keoni/John Jr. to eventual fame/fortune as our 1st local 20th century business-political scion/mogul. In the latter half of the 1800s, Kalapana was the symbolic seat of our Monarchy’s aupuni/government center — Keoni Sr. was its PR/communications leader. * *
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3rd generation — * Keoni/John Kai Jr. 1878-1962 is our earliest local GOP Asian-mixed Haw’n leader/baron. Kai Jr. also the wealthiest non-haole. Many of Hilo’s business sites formerly were Jr.’s [e.g. downtown Hawai’i National Bank site]. Jr. marries fellow scion Annie Akamu, descended from pioneer sugar master Tong Ai Yee. * * *
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4th generation — * Jr. & Annie have all sons, no daughters. Among larger than life sons are remarkable Ernie, our 1st Chinese-Haw’n acting Territorial Governor/pioneer Attorney General, & George Kai Sr. [independent, not GOP, though titular Richard Nixon’s classmate at Quaker legacy Whittier College in California — George is legendary government labor chief who is god/akua/savior to the Pinoy Sakada plantation era laborers]. * * *
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5th generation — * Great athletes Pee Wee 1940-1996 [died of massive heart attack] & Johnny born 1945 skipped government/political careers but became legends in sports [Pee Wee among our greatest sports leaders/Johnny among our best-ever athletes, like cousin Al Toody Souza born 1940, same age as Pee Wee — ergo 1958 Territorial hoops prep titlists St. Joseph High, which also produced Villa Franca’s 2 time NCAA-I All-American Easy Eddie Bento a la Easy Ed Macauley a decade before Bento]. * * *
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6th generation — * Pee Wee’s oldest child Keoki Kai born 1965 owned our most ubiquitous/successful cabaret nightclub in Big Island history, Uncle Mikey’s, until it was forced to close because of government discrimination, among other causes of action vs. our County, Keoki our business leader & reincarnation of extraordinary ancestors Akina/Keoni Kai Sr. & Jr. Keoki also was mentored at our great UoP Communications-PR [incl. public affairs topics] Stockton CA. Keoki our greatest leader in communications-PR-public affairs, entrepreneurship like antecedents Keoni Kai Sr. & Jr., & government operations [procurement/hiring-promotion/downsizing]. Secular-civic wise, Keoki blessed with the rarest open nature/mindedness, measured resolve-composure, & the almighty gift of humor [to defuse the situation-challenge-adversary if need be]. Psychologically-theologically, Keoki our greatest leader in valor-courage, clean-pure heart, & all-important prophecy [anticipate/vision of the future]. No kidding, gang. I’ve seen chief operatives in their most critical/operative moments in time such as Wilder King’s & Bill Quinn’s Nakatsuka/Jack Burns’ Horio/Ariyoshi’s Bob Wernet/etc. — the big difference is these characters were journalists, not communications-PR operatives-experts-pros!! A scribe is a sleuth/gum shoe, the opposite of an olive branch communications expert!! Would you ask jocks Billy Martin/NBA’s fka Ron Artest to negotiate with Red China over nuclear [or even class warfare] super sensitive national security concerns?! Not!!
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Social Gospel of Presidents Lincoln, FDR, & LBJ [Obamathology plays out itself with timidity-caused miscues aplenty]
Our greatest U.S. Presidents were incredibly progressive and transformative by surmounting national crises by taking their matters directly to the people/commoners, the backbone of America, and then define the old order/status quo as being the obstacles to what reform demands and will result in, and then create whole new possibilities — the politics of the aspirational, per James MacGregor Burns & Bob Kuttner — and then reconstruct the political system instead of menially operating within the status quo/conventional. President Obama chooses to be a mediocre transactional leader who gets his high on bargaining and manipulating within a given system, to the detriment of the nation as a whole, as seen in Kuttner’s & Woodward’s books on Obama. And therein the power reposes — Wall St., not back street U.S.A. — even our national financial collapse in 2008 to date has not been able to shake the hegemony of finance — Robert Rubin and his hacks Summers/Geithner, Bernanke, Paulson, were not fatally damaged goods to President Obama — to the contrary, mishap-laden greenhorn President Obama saw these pillagers/looters as entrees for tutelage, access, and validation to our monied power center, Wall St. So, the road not taken by meek/timid President Obama — to radical financial reform, broadened prosperity for the common lot, and the mobilization of our national appreciative citizenry would have been redemptive and transformative. He failed to seize such moment in history pregnant with possibilities, so to speak. I coined the word “Obamathology” head-on into Obama’s virginal entry [no one else had ever linked Obama to Greek mythology], feeling his vibes/energy as having the potential to mark him as jesus incarnate, yet also risking his stubborn and blindered timidity [actuated as overpride/self-righteousness] grinding him down to mediocrity and uselessness to our common lot. Or, to invert poet Seamus Heaney, hope & history don’t rhyme. And unlike today’s contagious wind of freedom in the Middle East/northern Africa [catalyzed by self-immolation of a protestor][got that, Madame Nhu??!!], British historian AJP Taylor, ripening the year 1848, when revolutions in central Europe seeking self-determination and liberal democrary all were aborted, characterized the events as a turning point of history in which history failed to turn! Obamathology plays out itself as such an era in America. The road not taken [thank you, poet Frost]. A road to Obama’s nascent audacity of hope, which he blew up in his face. From President Obama’s book — the politics of capture — “I [Barack] increasingly found myself spending time with people of means — law firm partners, investment bankers, hedge fund managers, venture capitalists. The top 1% of the income scale who can write huge checks to a political candidate. They found it hard that a social ill could not be cured with a high SAT [so-called college entry level intelligence marker] score. They had no patience with everyday financial issues, they found unions troublesome, they were not sympathetic to those commoners whose lives were upended by movements of global capital. As a consequence of my fund-raising, I became more like the wealthy donors I met, I spent more time above the fray, outside the world of immediate hunger, homelessness, poverty, disappointment, fear, irrationality, and frequent hardship of the other 99% of the population — the people to whom and for whom I entered politics in the first place and in public life to serve and to protect. ” –The Audacity of Hope. As Bob Kuttner says, “seldom were there two back-to-back presidents more different than George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Seldom was there a crisis that more thoroughly discredited a failed economic order. But when it came to financial policy and extreme deference to Wall Street, seldom has there been more policy continuity between the outgoing administration and its successor.” President Obama, being Black, does not want to be the angry black man provocateur a la Jesse Jackson. Bete noir/disliked is what timid black Barack wanted to avoid. Be cool/competent/managerial/very buttoned up.
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Huge mistake. Be passionate against heedless elites. Take charge. Lead. Such Obamathology discourses Greek tragedy/fallen hero to the tee.
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Robert Rubin rose thru the ranks of Goldman Sachs as risk-arbitrageur, a takeover predator a la T Boone Pickens. Goldman Sachs was designed for insider trading since one side of GS does mergers & acquisitions, & the other side windfalls on trades. Underwriting & trading are supposed to be kept apart, since pending deals are supposed to be confidential. Essentially, one cannot be both banker & speculator, which GS is. Rubin deftly skirted the law via his legal team & investing in politicians like both Bill/Hillary Clinton & Obama, so that no matter who won, Clinton or Obama, Rubin wins anyway, even as later Citigroup boss, just as Rubin has the GOP in Rubin’s hip pocket. In this sense, there is no difference b/n a Democrat & GOP on Wall St., in that populist Democrats pursue lucrative careers as lawyer lobbyists-fundraisers. Bolsheviks they are not! Rubin alone created the artificially inflated boom going on 2 decades ago, w/deregulator alter ego Greenspan cluelessly applauding plunderer Rubin. Rubin’s Citigroup would have collapsed in 2008 without massive government bailouts, due to Rubin’s speculative strategies creating & trading in high risk securities. Rubin’s Citi’s grand design as investment trader and bank for a one-stop smorgasbord of financial services. Rubin’s repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 which separated reckless gambler investment banks like Goldman Sachs from strictly regulated & government insured commercial banks like the original Citi who play key roles in our nation’s monetary supply, resulted in momentous conflicts of interest which resulted in both the crash of 1929 and of 2008. Bill Clinton’s key player in repealing Glass-Steagall was Robert Rubin, & Rubin’s acolytes Summers/Geithner now power over President Obama. Contrary to popular belief, President Obama’s biggest campaign contributors were big self-interested Wall St. donors – liberal on foreign policy/race/human rights, centrist on pocketbook issues like alleviating poverty, engaging in school reform, and downright hands-off on financial regulation & taxation, in that reg/tax hit them in the belly like a ballpeen hammer, & justifiably so, in that their conjured write-offs get them off the hook completely. So President Obama’s Rubinistas got rid of fellow Robert, this one being Robert Reich, along w/progressive reformers Dan Tarullo/Karen Kornbluh/Jim Galbraith/Jared Bernstein [youngster Jared was sent off to irrelevant domestic VP Biden, an office which FDR VP John Nance Garner analogized to a bucket of warm shi*t][Rubin detests labor/common lot, which Biden represents]/Austan Goolsbe/Christina Romer.
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Antiquated Marxists spoke of GOP Ike as the “head of the executive committee of the ruling class” because Ike was GOP & our former war commander. Yet it was Ike who chafed over our military-industrial complex! Such Marxist pejorative is better suited to describe President Obama’s Wall St. cabal, despite bad guys Obama’s/Summers’/Geithner’s/Rubin’s Democratic populist propaganda. Ike’s disdain of Wall St. & his tight regulation over capitalists earned him the positive distinction of the proponent of countervailing power vs. the predatory capitalists.
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FDR’s most audacious intervention, the Home Owners Loan Corporation HOLC 1933 used the government’s own borrowing rate — 2.5% — to refinance directly mortgage loans. HOLC saved one million homeowners from foreclosure, equivalent to 10 million homeowners today. A new HOLC under President Obama could be armed with a revolving fund, and use the power of eminent domain to require the investor to sell pools of securitized subprime mortgages to the government at their fair market value, today about 40 cents on the dollar. Today’s idealized HOLC then could convert the security back into a mortgage, using the savings to reduce the principal and the monthly payment by an average of at least half, and continue to subsidize the mortgage where necessary w/TARP stimulus funds. Feasible/constitutional, but timid President Obama locks into his self-imposed isolation of political mishap after mishap. Into 2011 hedge funds like Fortress Investment Group operated a lucrative business by buying underwater mortgages from banks at deep discounts and arranging reduced monthly payments for borrowers — while pocketing fat fees for themselves. Had President Obama been bold and prescient like FDR was [thanks, grassrooter Harry Hopkins, FDR’s bosom buddy], HOLC’s resulting savings could go to homeowners and less to financial middlemen. The government could buy nonperforming mortgages directly from the bank at its current discounted value. If the bank doesn’t want to sell, government’s eminent domain solves the problem. This would result in a steep reduction of principal & interest to the homeowner, which could be completed as necessary w/TARP funds. Only innocent victim homeowners deserving of aid would be helped, not speculators/plunderers from the commercial sector.
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President Obama’s corrupt team of Rubin/Summers/Geithner/Bernanke/Paulson say our banking crisis is of confidence, not solvency, and that time is on our side, not against us. Wrong on both counts. The longer we delay acknowledging the real insolvency of the large banks like Rubin’s Citigroup, the longer the banks drag down the economy. Citigroup should be broken up & its good assets sorted out from its bad ones, instead of pretending it to be solvent. Summers/Geithner cry “nationalization” ergo socialism on government’s takeover of failed banks. Phooey, no one proposes permanency, just do receivership to get rid of Summers/Geithner’s plunderer cronies & clean up the balance sheets. Summers keeps propagandizing that government is not good at managing companies, even companies bailed out at taxpayer expense. And President Obama buys such lie lock/stock/barrel, that recovery programs should be based on propping up and bailing out failed private financial institutions, not transforming them/financial system. Point of fact is that Summers’ b.s. ignores history — twice before, with FDR’s Reconstruction Finance Corp. RTC 80 yrs. ago, and with Resolution Trust Corp. RTC 2 decades ago which cleaned up our S & L disaster – government proved better than Wall St. in recapitalizing failed banks and managing them in the public interest until their assets could be sorted out and the banks returned to private health/sovereignty. Crony capitalism is odious for its conflicts of interest and the unconscionable pillage by insiders [yes, our White House’s Rubinomic boys et al today] — and because it prevents return to a robust economy/recovery. How big a hit the banking industry bondholders take, how much TARP is infused, then Citi can be sold off or broken up in order to ensure healthy functioning. Such direct approach rids us of Summers/Geithner’s looters, no more credit withholding which drags down the economy. As it stands, President Obama’s fleecers’ bank profit mantra means tightening loan standards at a time when our economy needs healthy alternatives, not outrageous credit card usury/consumer credit as major profit inductions for bankers, and not specious trading schemes that flip into large but vacuous profits until the collapse of the next credit bubble.
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President Obama’s bogey boys fertilize CDS [credit default swaps] which bundle major profits for their cronies. Fed Treasury refuses to solve our foreclosure crisis, inasmuch mandatory write-downs & refinancings cut into bank profits. And conflicts of interest rapaciously take away our solvency, in that “policy by dealing” of our exclusive star chamber Wall St. starlights profit by advance knowhow of government moves. Fed Treasury never before doled out money directly to failed banks, unlike FDIC, who took over/recapitalized smaller failed banks. Paulson/Geithner instead went back to Wall St. to do TARP, thereby again benefitting their insiders/cronies. Cheap money, tight credit continue to depress our economy. An unsold condo complex w/large vacancy cannot find permanent lenders. Same w/shopping malls/hotels/office bldgs. — no creditor wants to convert construction loans to long-term mortgages inasmuch no one can forecast vacancy rates. Investors avoid the whole sector of construction loans converted to mortgages, even for developer properties w/Walgreens as lessee.
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After our Keatingesque S & L industry fell to speculative lending via deregulation a quarter century ago, we restored them back to health via our Fed Resolution Trust Corp., which looter Summers revulses at, inasmuch required receivership liquidates Summers’ crony pillager bank execs. RTC devised sealed bid auction to attract buyers for distressed properties which were collateral for loans, on top of ridding bad loans & creating new transparent securities to raish cash. RTC encouraged bids from bargain hunters, & RTC offset government payouts by recouping value from sold assets. Again, President Obama’s team of Wall St. insiders denies reality by continuing to purloin off the public trust in these insiders. RTC did not bail out Rubin’s/Summers’ incumbent execs/shareholders — capitalism worked as it is supposed to under RTC by jettisoning these crooked insiders/sweetheart dealmakers. So ditch Rubin/Summers/Geithner’s cries of socialism cometh. Just shibai on their part. Hoover’s Reconstruction Finance Corp. RFC is RTC’s predecessor, though FDR gets credit for RFC. Both RTC/RFC liquidated Obama’s crooked execs & capped salaries at a deserved level.
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Irony is that GOP/conservative experts on financial crises extol the value of RFC 80 yrs. ago because it kept the Federal Reserve out of the bailout business — RFC separated the function of recapitalization & resolution of insolvent banks/industrial outfits from the conduct of monetary policy. President Obama’s strategy sadly puts the Federal Reserve into bailouts w/no hands-on supervision, again amplifying the political spoils system. Instead of RFC’s competent/transparent meritocracy, President Obama’s conflict of interest pillagers waive accounting standards/weaken regulatory constraints/deny conflicts of interest/refuse to immerse in bank management decisions despite massive amounts of taxpayer monies/aid. RFC’s hands-on approach opts to shut down a failed bank such as Rubin’s Citi, sell off its assets, replace its management. The only outfit today reminiscent of Hoover’s RFC is FDIC [Hoover’s Honolulu connection Bill Castle is a shining example that not all was bad about Hoover]. But FDIC has no authority over bank holding companies such as Rubin’s Citigroup and Bank of America, which are the largest & most insolvent outfits. Good economists [vs. the looters] include but are not limited to President Obama’s crooked gang’s nemeses [my A-Team] Paul Krugman/Volcker/Joe Stiglitz/Sheila Bair/Bob Kuttner/Nouriel Roubini/Jeffrey Sachs/Simon Johnson. Purloiners/hedge fund bosses/clubby insiders aligned w/Rubin et al promote weak reporting/accountability requirements vs. reform measures such as the Levin-Doggett bill. Levin is an establishment guy who courageously champions the people’s cause of transparency/accountability. Levin & follower Doggett of Texas sought to bring in at least $100 billion a year & as much as $130 billion from tax-evading corps/high-income folks who use offshore havens w/no taxes & no tax treaties w/the U.S. — Levin would treat these 20,000 U.S. companies based offshore at Caymans, for example, which in reality has a single occupant, the law firm Maples & Calder — as domestic corps — Morgan Stanley as another example has 160 subsidiaries in the Caymans for MS’s hedge funds. Pan-national mega-corps evade taxes on dividends via deferral, which also encourages shifting jobs overseas. U.S. multinational profits camp in Bermuda/Luxembourg/etc., & nearly all have an effective tax rate below 10%. Believe it, President Obama’s looters/insiders cost the Treasury hundreds of billions of dollars & renege on President Obama’s campaign pledge of fighting for back street/Main St., instead of corrupt Wall St. It’s not a left wing radical notion — this ripoff is reality. Such looting results in a job gap of 11 million due to lost capital/etc. As NYT’s Joe Nocera says, the Obama Plan sticks a regulatory finger into a very leaky mega-dam instead of addressing the integrity of the dam itself.
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President Obama failed to reform the corruption of credit rating agencies, whose complicity with the issuers of deceptive securities such as subprime bonds had a central role in the collapse of Wall St. President Obama failed to reform the conflict of interest graft which principally resulted in the fall — by mixing commercial banking with speculative proprietary trading & the creation of exotic securities. Volcker’s remonstrance to restore the Glass-Steagall fire wall between commercial banking & more speculative trading was ignored. Derivatives are the crux of the financial mess. Credit default swaps were built upon layers of leverage at the center of the collapse of our financial industry. Even after Wall St.’s fall in September 2008, the purported value of derivatives ran into the hundreds of trillions of dollars — over 10 times the world GDP — & bankers & traders relied on derivatives for mega-profits. Derivatives operate at one or more layers of abstraction from actual transactions. Example — a mortgage loan is an actual transaction, as is a bond backed by a subprime mortgage loan, an actual security. But 17 yrs. ago synthetic packages of bond backed by mortgage loans, or what we know as derivatives, were invented. And a credit default swap, which is an insurance policy against such packages of bonds going bad, is even more abstract. CDS were insurance for a security which the insuring party did not own. At each stage of abstraction, derivatives induce pyramids of leverage & huge speculative profits for insiders — as long as the bubble keeps growing. AIG wrote hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of swaps backed by none of its own capital — it was all leverage, not real security/actual investment/savings. The less capital, the greater the loss. Wall St./banking industry still rules the White House/Capitol Hill, enabled by President Obama’s crooked insider economic team of Summers/Geithner/Paulson/etc. Goldman Sachs, alma mater of Citigroup’s Robert Rubin & Henry Paulson, rules [Goldman made a killing off AIG], strategic advisor Blackrock fleeced taxpayers as inside player. The auto rescue was legit, where domestic manufacturing [except for national defense] is not coddled like Wall St. is coddled. D.C. doesn’t care where production is located, but this blinder mentality results in our trade deficit [we import what we don’t produce] & our loss of manufacturing capacity. Ron Bloom/Steve Rattner are to restructuring Detroit what Volcker/Stiglitz could be if President Obama’s looters did not kick them out the door at the White House. Plunderer Summers says that recovery should be based on propping up & bailing out failed private financial institutions, not transforming them. Yet Summers fails to recognize our New Deal RFC & our S&L RTC — government recapitalized failed banks & managed them far better than Wall St. — at which point their assets could be sorted out & the banks returned to private financial health.
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The problem with our President living in an insulated world of insiders is that outside opinions are dismissed, as you see w/President Obama’s reliance on looters Rubin/Summers/Geithner/Bernanke, Hoover’s same reliance on Wall St., & LBJ’s reliance on genius whiz kids McNamara/McGeorge Bundy. Of President Obama’s own economic team, Jared Bernstein/Christina Romer/Austan Goolsbe were good folks who were jettisoned by Summers/Geithner/Emanuel, all 3 fanatics on “one mind, one voice” [no loyal opposition allowed]. Of course, we all know about actual messiahs siahs Volcker/Stiglitz/Paul Krugman/Sheila Bair/Marshall Ganz/Rich Trumka, & Congressional Oversight Panel’s Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor specializing in bankruptcy, Warren the co-author of a popular book w/her daughter Amelia Warren Tyagi, called “The Two-Income Trap,” on the economic squeeze on middle class folks, caused partly by predatory financial abuses/parasitic Wall St. execs — Elizabeth the leading regulatory progressive reformer which President Obama’s thugs revulsed at, because she would stop the bleeding of the taxpayers by Summers/Geithner/Bernanke/Paulson/etc. Born in Oklahoma in 1949, Liz Warren remembers her parents & grandparents recalling the Great Depression & savior FDR, “People like my grandparents knew two things about Roosevelt — one, he made it safe for you to put your money in banks, and two, he put the government on the side of helping ordinary folks.” Two decades ago Enron looked for a government bailout, arguing that Enron was indispensable in owning the futures market in electricity. But government said no, then came Bear Stearns, which got a bailout, only to fall in 2008. Up to 2008, only 3 companies got bailed out by the government [where taxpayers stand behind shareholders], Chrysler in 1979, Long-Term Capital Mgmt. over a decade ago, & Bear Stearns. But Paulson’s TARP guaranteed all the Wall St. profiteers/gunslingers who shot dead John Q. Public, that suddenly now there is no penalty for failure, in order to cover up the excesses/abuses of Paulson’s/Summers’/Geithner’s/Rubin’s cronies. Not to mention Emanuel, who also profited off Wall St.’s excesses. Now President Obama lay in the center of a room of quickdraws at the scratch vs. John Q. Public. Of course, Liz was riddled silly w/gunshots from the White House attack flank headed by Summers, not to mention Capitol Hill solons on the take like Barney Frank/Chris Dodds. So the same w/messiah Sheila Bair, another woman! FDIC head Bair, Independence Kansas native born 1955, as much of nearby Oklahoma in her as Kansas, Bair worked earlier for a small town bank, & her parents were progressive GOPs. Bair was the most assertive regulator of the Obama era. Of course, a decade before, Enron wanted Bair’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission to exempt Enron’s futures contracts in energy transactions from CFTC jurisdiction. Bair was its lone voice for tougher regulation/oversight, as Brooksley Born was under President Clinton. Yes, another female! Born a progressive Bay area gal. CFTC egregiously got snagged into Enron’s lie in a 2-1 split vote, w/Bair issuing a blistering dissent, opposing the majority vote that transactions b/n highly intelligent consenting adults did not require regulation/oversight. Bair exhorted, “If we are to rationalize exemptions from antifraud and other components of our regulatory scheme on the basis of the ‘sophistication’ of market users, we might as well close our doors tomorrow.” Of course, Bair got shotgunned by Paulson/Summers/Geithner et al under President Obama. Bair wanted to refinance subprime mortgage loans on terms the borrower can afford, instead of foreclosing/taking the home. But Paulson/Geithner lubed volunteer plans via government inducement payments which went nowhere — thence today’s multitude of home foreclosures. As FDIC head, Bair seized a failed bank, toss out mgmt., get depositors paid off [no interest/dividends], sell the assets, & merge the failed bank with a viable successor bank if the bank is cleaned up on an accurate balance sheet. But Paulson et al use public money to prop up corrupted banks, bail out shareholders, & bonus up the crooked execs who ditched the bank in the first place. Ole’ Boys Network resides in President Obama’s White House. But at least 2 yrs. ago, Bair won over Geithner on Washington Mutual/Wachovia, & Geithner is on a tear to revenge Bair for upending Geithner’s plunderer cronies. Of course, Bair’s fine day vs. Geithner/Paulson/Bernanke was in Bair’s blocking a sweetheart deal in which Rubin’s Citigroup was set to take over Wachovia. Bair is still trying to keep speculators out of commercial banking. Bair’s FDIC correctly posits that you don’t mix banking w/ordinary commerce, because if a conglomerate who owns other businesses also owns a bank, it can self-deal/benefit by extending credit to its subsidiaries w/federally insured depositor money — & thereby disadvantages competing businesses who don’t own a bank. Transactions between banks & their customers are supposed to be arm’s length, not sweetheart/self-dealing in nature.
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The need to find buyers for failed banks result in takeover speculators taking over banking –unregulated full leveraged [no equity/capital] private equity speculators cannot own more than 25% of a bank– so they each own 24.9% & effectively take over a bank, only to ramp up its value via short-gain methods, & then sell to make a huge profit, even though the bank is worked to fail. IndyMac comes to mind. The inverse also occured w/Washington Mutual or WaMu, in which private equity looters Texas Pacific Group prevented WaMu from raising needed capital until it was too late. In raking in short gain profits, Texas Pacific Group forced WaMu to take big risks, resulting in its demise. In Florida, 4 speculator equity firms bought $12.7 billion failed Bank United, only to have short term gains. FDIC’s Sheila Bair sought to levy additional penalities against banks whose pay packages/executive compensation promoted reckless behavior, which passed on the risks to the taxpayer insurance fund — Bair proposed rewarding banks which paid execs in stocks which could be redeemed over several years, & whose executive pay was set by outside directors.
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Simon Johnson analogizes our financial crises to familiar crises he dealt with as chief economist of the IMF. The common element is simple corruption — top government officials using public funds to protect or revive busted cronies in the financial elite, thus prolonging the crises. “If you hid the name of the nation & just showed the numbers, IMF old hands would say — nationalize troubled banks and break them up as necessary,” per Johnson. Such simple insight was less remarkable for what it said than for who was saying it, an international expert who marked his break with the global financial elite, and now is on Summers’ sh*t list.
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Lion in Winter’s Volcker argued for resurrection of the Glass-Steagall Act , though subprime loan genesis was neither commercial nor investment banker types. But w/the repeal of this Act, Rubin’s Citi & other large commercial banks became conglomerates of insurance companies/broker-dealers/investment profiteers, and bankrolled retail mortgage companies which originated subprime mortages, and bank-holding company affiliates traded in subprime securities. Creating/trading swaps were the upswell toward demise/implosion. Volcker presciently said, as did many others outside the White House, that “extensive participation in the impersonal, transaction-oriented capital market does not seem to me an intrinsic part of commercial banking. Won’t the unwarranted protection for the largest banks and their holding companies encourage worse risk-taking, especially when compensation practices so greatly reward short-term success?” [CEOs fleece their outfits by selling short to gain huge bonuses, instead of long range solutions which ensure stability/steady returns-ROI]. Ownership/sponsorship of hedge funds/private equity funds/proprietary trading are all terribly inherent risks/gambling & in Volcker’s cross hair for a wall of protection against these vices, from commercial prudent banking. Of Geithner, foot in the coffin [huge coffin for 6’7″ Volcker] Volcker says, “my views of Tim Geithner are unprintable.” Volcker got lukies [lukewarm/tepid] VP Biden/pol Axelrod/SEC’s Bill Donaldson/Bush I Treasury boss Nicholas Brady/ex-Citi CEO John Reed/Rubin’s ex-deputy Roger Altman to turn against looters Summers/Geithner et al. Maria Cantwell/Bernie Sanders/Byron Dorgan/Dick Durbin/Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill are Volcker fans. Ron Paul/Jeff Lacker/Dick Fisher/Tom Hoenig on the right wing political spectrum are Volcker good guys. Rahm Emanuel is a predator vs. the ordinary man/woman, cut from the same cloth as Summers/Geithner/Paulson/Rubin/Bernanke/etc. Strangely enough, Employee Free Choice Act EFCA is a Democrat honeybun but ignored by President Obama’s insiders, not because of fat slob union corruption, but because Emanuel et al are fanatic Wall St. insiders/backers & disdain blue collar labor movement/workers rights in trade law. Which partly is why GOP Scott Brown defeated Dem Martha Coakley in Boston, when Dem base voters/independents swept toward Brown as a referendum against President Obama. GOP obstructionism nothwithstanding, President Obama self-destructs via his plunderer all-star pick up team of Wall St. insiders. Steady hands like Volcker/Stiglitz/Paul Krugman get iced out. History shows that when progressive reformers like William Jennings Bryan & Volcker et al are shut out of governance, & what ensues is utter failure to address popular pocketbook grievances, GOP obstructionists fill the gap to plunder again for their elite cadre on Wall St., though Summers et al trot forward as populist Dems, which in reality are a horrid lie/shibai.
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Pocketbook voters wanted President Obama to issue bold policies to improve the condition of the ordinary man/woman/child, and to lead decisively thru our financial apocalypse on Wall St. President Obama failed on both counts, not wanting to take on and overturn our powerful economic oligarchy on Wall St. Reminiscent of plantation era Hawai’i & antebellum Planter Dixie South cotton country, when a miniscule nerve center of economic power held sway over every aspect of life in the “colonies.” FDR succeeded because of FDR’s unmitigated ferocity vs. money-is-god elitists — FDR’s New Deal didn’t seek to appease money markets like diffident/timid President Obama does — FDR’s New Deal overhauled the collapsed financial markets & redid them all over again, for the better. FDR didn’t seek to find common ground w/GOP/Wall St. like ridiculously passive President Obama does — FDR forced reforms over the most strenuous opposition of our nation’s elite cadres [as did FDR’s cuz Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the last century] — because the reforms were backed by ordinary folks — who were all for broad economic recovery/pocketbook aid. Consensus at all costs is suicide, as you see time & again w/pols going back to our early Founders. Woodward’s book screams Obama’s miscue — a sick extreme of LBJ’s Isaiah’s let us gather creed. FDR saved the common lot. This was FDR’s strength/audacity. In 1936 FDR carried 46 of 49 states. Special interests were not taken as prisoners under FDR. President Obama is captive to Wall St. in 2011. With obstructionist populist Dixiecrat Huey Long’s assassination in 1935, FDR had no unbeatable detractors, despite FDR’s race inclusion/1st ever female Cabinet appointee/plethora of Jewish advisors. The resounding defeat for President Obama in 2010, esp. among working class rural bumpkins, but also in white Virginia/North Carolina, happened simply because these voters lost hope in his economic program. Useless is another word for President Obama, in their pocketbook mentality.
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Just the same, President Obama’s health reform is too closely aligned w/industry special interests [insurers/drug companies/etc.], rather than ordinary citizens vs. elites. Bad politics breed bad policy. President Obama’s appeasement to powerful health industry lobbyists strategy jettisoned using federal bargaining clout to negotiate cheaper drug prices/expanding Medicare for more people of wider age eligibility. Instead, President Obama’s appeasement policy which requires the government to come up w/a trillion dollars of subsidy for the insurance industry taxes premiums of insureds, forces folks to buy policies which they can’t afford, diverts money from Medicare itself. And in doing so President Obama abandons senior citizens on fixed income, and alienates trade unionists. True, this comprehensive reform helps two-thirds of America’s uninsured, but taxes the 80% of Americans w/insurance which becomes more costly & unpredictable every year. After all, his base supporters wanted a single-payer plan. In return they got contingency band-aid setups. Cost containment among the fat slobs [insurance/drug/hospital/medical aids] not in his cross-hair. Social Security/Medicare are public social insurance to make up for the failure of the commercial sector to provide adequate retirement, and the failure to provide affordable health insurance. Contrarily, President Obama’s health reform subsidizes political spoils system insurers w/almost no oversight, in pandering to the health industry lobbyists. Had he made the special interest lobbyists his enemies instead of his allies, he would have popular support, which possibly would have resulted in Medicare for all subsidized by general tax revenues. One thing you can say about Barry Bomber [Punahou hoopster whole-cheeser shooter] Obama born 1961 — he reinvents himself time & again, a man of many masks, so to speak. Now if, as he says, Barry Bomber. “by nature I’m not somebody who gets real worked up about things,” Barry Bomber’s search for common ground is his one reliable constant, then Barry Bomber has lost his shooting touch, and his shooting match, because of all things and times, now Barry Bomber needs to be a fighter for the common lot.
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http://baselinescenario.com/2011/04/13/my-medicare-deficit-solution/
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FDR seized the day carpe diem & transformed our economy to avert widespread societal disaster. President Obama is the opposite — instead pandering to Wall St. as opposed to reforming it. Less transformative President Truman then becomes President Obama’s next exemplar, not top like FDR, but progressive just the same. When GOP obstructionists thwarted Truman’s programs, & Truman’s popularity was at an alltime low, Truman not only saved his election upset in 1948 but got Democrats to take back Congress in one of the largest turnovers in the history of Capitol Hill — the House alone picked up 75 seats. As we see w/every President since LBJ, the opposition party of the President on Capitol Hill takes no prisoners, so there is no point in finding common ground, to use President Obama’s repulsive phrase, because it includes the unspoken “at all costs,” even to the demise of the common lot. As much as political ace/pundit Keoki Kai born 1965 effuses endlessly over President Clinton, President Clinton’s legacy is dismal like President Obama’s — because both clueless men have the same Wall St. team backing up them — headed by looters Rubin/Summers. Clinton won re-election but only at the cost of the common lot, & Clinton’s backdoor dealing struck a disastrous blow to progressive reform & to the Democrats as a majority party. From Clinton’s 1st address to Congress, Clinton’s godfather economic advisor Robert Rubin omitted the words “working people” [social class] lest financial markets ergo Wall St. be targeted for investigation of corruption/graft. Like President Obama, President Clinton used up all of his political capital/dibs on health reform, and ended up playing into the hands of health industry special interest lobbyists. And like President Obama [what do you expect w/”U da Man” w/the biggest penis/di*k “overcompensator” Rubin in charge??], Clinton abandoned pocketbook relief for the common lot. Like President Obama, Clinton also split his own Democratic Party by endorsing Bush I’s NAFTA, despite Democrats voting no on Capitol Hill. So that come 1994, GOPs again took control of the House, taking no prisoners from the Dems/Clinton.. Of course, w/Wall St. apologists Dick Morris/Mark Penn as Clinton’s strategists, Clinton won re-election by a hair over a very weak has-been GOP in corpse Bob Dole in 1996, pandering to GOP budgeteers of help the rich, screw the poor, so to speak. But, as w/President Obama, Clinton’s pandering was not reciprocated by the GOP. Witness Clinton’s welfare reform which became but a GOP crumb tosser to the poorest segments of America, draconian against the helpless/powerless. Because of its punitive nature, against the advice of egalitarians Stan Greenberg/Jim Carville/Donna Shalala — Clinton’s Act drastically cut benefits & kicked off recipients from the welfare rolls w/only minimum transitional supports [child care/training/wage subsidies/safety net for periods of high unemployment/etc.] — 3 Clinton cabinet staffers quit in protest because of Clinton’s hypocrisy — expediency over principle. Of course, Clinton’s worst embrace was w/de-regulatory Rubinomics — in which the so-called boom became a bubble which burst in our millennium recession w/right wing reactionary laws as a result of Clinton’s wishy-washiness. As we see today w/President Obama, the GOP elitist agenda doesn’t revive our economy, so there is no reason for President Obama to pander to the reactionary right, only to lose via the common lot’s pocketbook.
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Of course, President Truman came up thru the crooked Pendergast machine of Kansas City in the 1934 U.S. Senate, & headed the cost-cutting National Defense Program ergo Truman Committee, which saved taxpayers $15 billion in cleaning out waste/corruption in military contracts, thereby earning Truman the glorious patch of being the scourge of war profiteers [military-industrial complex]. Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” exemplified Truman’s war on shoddy contractors who cost the lives of combat soldiers. Of course, Truman became FDR’s VP only to be clueless on the A-bomb when FDR died. Till this day, the bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki were crimes against humanity — unneccesary/uncalled for — as a show of unconquerable muscle to Stalin’s encroachment into Oceania’s/Pacifica’s spheres. After the 1946 mid-term elections in which Democrats took a beating, President Truman fought the GOP like hell/high water, earning him the enmity of the GOP [Give’m Hell Harry], resulting in his come from nowhere win in the 1948 election. Strom Thurmond’s States’ Rights Party to the reactionary right & quirky personality Henry Wallace’s Progressive Party to the labor Left did not deter Truman from answering the strength of the Silent Majority Center — Truman embarassed the GOP into casting unpopular votes or backing laws the common lot opposed. President Obama’s compromise at all costs mantra abandons the common lot. Class warfare won the day for Truman, and the abandonment of it will spell the demise of President Obama, at least on Capitol Hill come 2012. Let’s face it — Presidential races are referenda on the incumbent President. Presidents who fail to deliver in crisis risk defeat. The extremism of the opponent, as we saw in 1980 w/Hollywood Ronald Reagan as GOP candidate, is no protection. Copying President Truman’s class warfare makes sense, not Clinton’s inertia via the same gang as Rubin, inasmuch being our Nation’s inexplicable 1st Black President [thanks to Truman’s de-segregation & progeny], most Americans want underdog Barry to succeed. Why not plaster the GOP as retrograde losers in the evolution of Humanity?? Obstructionists/racists/elitists, robbers of the pocketbook of the common lot/America’s Silent Majority. Wall St. is the source of our economic depression & high unemployment. Wall St. is blocking reform of any kind, in refutation of our Silent Majority/Middle America. And President Obama needs to rid the White House of Wall St. looters headed by Summers/Geithner/Bernanke/Paulson/etc., all acolytes of Clinton’s Rubin/Rubinomics ergo leave alone Wall St. plunderers — do not regulate/oversee them! LBJ was able to define racism/poverty as our national emergency, just as slowed growth/high unemployment are our national emergencies as we speak. Tax and spend are not bad so long as we tax and invest a la FDR/LBJ — invest in the working man/woman & in families! Taxes to enact include but are not limited to rescinding the 2001/2003 Bush II tax cuts for rich income earners over $250,000/restore the estate tax to the pre-Bush II level/add a transfer tax on very short-term financial transactions/tax short-term capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income/remove the tax deductibility of interest used to finance corporate takovers/as w/Levin’s crusade, remove loopholes which allow domestic firms to incorporate in tax havens for tax purposes, & enforce offshore tax evasion/add interest-dividend-capital gains income to the Medicare tax base/add a special surtax on all incomes over $l million a year/close other narrow-interest loopholes/etc. W/deregulation came collateralized debt obligations/credit derivatives — nobdody was too big to fail — but it did fail, and failed big. The gamblers/entrepreneurs of the financial industry such as investment banks/venture capitalists/hedge fund chiefs — used monies not backed by government. And these profiteers channeled risk capital for new outfits/corporate expansions. The test of dissemination of capital/spreading of risk — should be increased productivity/GDP growth. Instead, CDS concentrated risk/spread toxins. As Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodman says, President Obama needs to start landing on his feet instead of his proverbial cerebral head, just as learner President Lincoln had to go thru several generals before finding a fine commander in Ulysses S. Grant. President Obama had every opportunity to rein forward a new social order against Wall St./Pentagon endless war proponents/war profiteers. He had his Obama for America gang which he has silenced out of fear that he cannot control his gang — yet, every major social change occured from social movements outside the White House — Lincoln & his Quaker/Congregationalist abolitionists — FDR & his labor movement — LBJ & Martin Luther King, & now President Obama & his Obama for America populist anti-Wall St. gang. Look at GOP’s success w/its own social movements — Christian Right/gun lobby/anti-abortion forces. On the Left, the Stonewall protests of 1969, like the Mattachine Society a decade before, brought Gayness into the mainstream of thought/discussion. Bush I ratified disability rights ADA 1990. Remember that NO movement was about the pocketbook, but about inclusion/fair play/equality. Only incidentally was the pocketbook invoked. After all, MLK’s last march was for the Memphis janitors, not just for better wages, but for respect/dignity. Outgroups who petition for full membership in the American Dream. Of course, Wall St. remains unscathed. President Obama’s reliance on 527 tax code lobby groups to neuter his Obama for America happening also explains his absence of support for the Employee Free Choice Act — to appease Wall St.
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None other than country boy Bill Moyers beseeched President Obama, “Come on, Mr. President, show us America is more than a circus or a market. Remind us of our greatness as a democracy. When you speak to Congress next week, just come out and say it. We thought we heard you say during the campaign that you want a government-run insurance plan alongside private insurance — mostly premium-based, with subsidies for low- and moderate-income people. Open to all individuals and employees who want to join and with everyone free to choose the doctors we want. We thought you said Uncle Sam would sign on as our tough, cost-minded negotiator standing up to the cartel of drug and insurance companies and Wall Street investors whose only interest is a company’s share price and profits.
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But after seeing President Obama’s capitulation to special interest groups and the political spoils system, Moyers remarked, “Something’s not right here. One year after the great collapse of our financial system, Wall Street is back on top while our politicians dither. As for health care reform, you’re about to be forced to buy insurance from companies whose stock is soaring, and that’s just dandy with the White House. Truth is, our capital’s being looted. Republicans are acting like the town rowdies, the sheriff is firing blanks, and powerful Democrats in Congress are in cahoots with the gang that’s pulling the heist.”
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For now, as Chicago organizer/Saul Alinsky acolyte Mike Kruglik observes, President Obama has kissed the arse of the power elite — financial traders/bankers, health insurers & drug companies, etc. If President Obama chooses the status quo power elite over his promised change, he will fare no better than a clueless President Clinton, not ascend/ramp up to the audacity of a come from behind plain-speaking high school graduate like President Truman, and certainly not getting anywhere near the pantheon of our greatest crises solvers like President Lincoln, who decided that the Civil War was not just about preserving the Union but about freeing the slaves, President FDR who chose to side with the common lot over Wall St. [just as his cuz President Teddy did a century ago today], President LBJ who redeemed the promise of the great Lincoln a century later.
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from versatile Hiloan Paula Helfrich —
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Thanks Curtis — it is really and truly u on Amazon and AuthorHouse and I’d value your opinion!! I just finished reading WAYFINDING THROUGH THE STORM (Daws) and BEN (The Guv) and it makes my years at Pan Am and now in Myanmar seem so peaceful … I’d never dare to write a Hawaii book! But I have two more coming about Myanmar and SEAsia now … one historical memoir of my parents time, and another modern about travelling, eating, living today — very restful! Hope you are well and of course, Hilo is beautiful! cheers //Paula
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Hi Paula —
Kudos!! Aloha!! –Curt
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 14:30
Subject: “FLYING” – A NOVEL BY PAULA HELFRICH AND REBECCA SPRECHER – JUST RELEASED
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from cut-up fella KL Ching born 1936 Punahou ’54 grad —
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Curtis,
I do not recall a Mary Lou Thompson at Punahou. Is she part Hawaiian? 3 or more years younger would be in a class I would not be familiar with. There was a photo of me dribbling a basketball with Dick West of the Big Island and Vince Tagupa. We were the scrubs that rode the bench behind of starters Al Harrington, Eki Espinda, Harry Pacarro, Whit Newton and Mike Baughman. Why would I think that you are a mahu? You are a classic ass man. –KL
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Subject: Punahou grad & first Hawaiian female in U.S. Open tennis — Mary Lou Thompson
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Hi KL: Mary Lou is about 3 yrs. younger than you? Her Hollywood handsome son Kurt Jarrett [former Hawai’i elected Territorial Delegate to Congress Billy Jarrett’s ohana] is my friend.
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With lucid & wry wit, Hollywood-gorgeous married couple Elder Keoni [John] & Sister Lukini [Luedeen] Andrew born 1942/1943 embody our souls with higher physics, of our Heavenly Father & His Son Jesus & of the Holy Ghost. Elder & Sister Andrew in breathtaking & thoroughly engaging fashion bespeak & manifest of yeomen heavy lifting as disciples of Jesus along the ultimate trajectory of life and of Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation for us all [faith/repentance/baptism/receiving & acceptance of the Holy Ghost/endurance to the end]. Hitherto conventional/complacent attitudes get ripped & triggered into the higher plane via mind-bending unexpected strokes of genius/revelations thru Scripture & prophecy.
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“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37
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Most pervasive sins are of overpride/egotism. In tandem are vanity/jealousy/envy. Always heed your unction/prompt/Holy Ghost. Angels are messengers of Christ & can manifest as any animal or phenomenon.
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Keoni and Lukini Andrew born 1942/1943 are proficient at gender dynamics because the family
as the fulcrum of faith is part of our walk with our Heavenly Father, unlike clueless Earl Dean E.,
who flubs at application of Scripture to life, all the while preaching Canon like no tomorrow,
ensconced/self-absorbed in his own legend of his perfect marriage to his wife. Actually, Dean
almost never applies Scripture to life because he’s too busy preaching about his perfect marriage
to his wife. Braggart/phony are not a stretch of imagination as ascriptions.
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Choose redemption [redeem oneself in love for another] over indifference, no matter the risks of failure/rejection/humiliation-derision-scorn
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Faith is not outcome-dependent, such that Jesus does not cut a deal or bargain over your destiny. You don’t trade off with Jesus. Neither do you engage in magic/hocus pocus — Faith is not a Vegas act. It is as real as the wage of sin — death. Thy Will Be Done. One is not cursed because that person or one’s progeny are afflicted with medical issues. It just is, as Eleanor Roosevelt’s orphan phase just is. This is one’s walk in Faith, side by side with Jesus. Everlasting life beyond our own on this temporal earth. But for the Grace of God there go I. Psalm 124
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Again, remember that blessings are about obedience and faith in God, nothing to do with temporal/earthly occurrences such as earthquakes/tsunamis/hurricanes/cancer/diabetes/etc. And curses are of one’s own doing, not inherited via one’s DNA [nurture, not nature], such as overpride-vanity/envy-jealousy/greed/selfishness/anger.
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MY OTHER BLOGS:
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http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/author/curtis-narimatsu/
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http://curtisnarimatsu.blogwonks.com/
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http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/category/dispatches-from-curt/ [its editor banned me for defending victimized Keoki Kai against the editor’s star chamber impunity-endowed defamatory-laced scribe, and for supporting Peter Frost’s crucible that editorial outcome-controlled expression/thought are not free will]
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Public opinion polls show that agnostics & atheists are the groups which Americans trust the least.
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Loss in love [getting dumped by your loved one] is the death of possibilities, of what could’ve been bliss, of dreams shattered, to use the cliche. Such death transitions me from what is to what will be, from who I am to who I will be, a blend of sort, so to speak.
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Nippon “kusuri” [medicine] man preceded today’s M.D. league among buddaheads [Hawai’i Japanese], like how Doc Hill peddled “megani” [eye] glasses, thence his moniker “Doc.” Buddaheads steer toward the secular based on our “nature worship” a la Shinto & Buddhist “Confucius” inclinations.
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God never wants us to suffer, but Nature’s course/suffering is our growth in God’s Holiness as we draw closer to God. The experience of loss/pain/ suffering do not shape us, but instead our response to such loss/experience shape our fate/destiny. We don’t choose misfortune, and we have the agency/choice to decide how we react in turn to these sad circumstances/ events. Loss/crisis offer up our transformative change/catalyst to growth, as we impel beyond our ego limitation and then transcend our self- inflated vices. Our deepest loss/suffering teleport us to a divine plane where we shorn our illusion of our own power/egocentrism, and in this netherland we decide whether to condemn ourselves to misery/self-loathing, or to forgive ourselves for our failed human condition/hamartia [maybe well-intended but miscued just the same]. Yes, the death of the egotistic self conceives the birth of the new self of extraordinary beauty and sensuality, and we do not consume ourselves with the fear of loss as a cop-out to deny us and others our desire to love and to be loved.What about those who do not believe? Wouldn’t they repent and believe if they
were given a second chance? The answer is no, they would not because their
hearts are not changed simply because they die. Their hearts and minds “are at
enmity” against God and won’t accept Him even when they see Him face to face.
This is evidenced clearly in the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. If ever someone should have repented when
given a second chance to see clearly the truth, it was the rich man. But
although he was in torment in hell, he only asked that Abraham send Lazarus back
to earth to warn his brothers so they didn’t have to suffer the same fate. There
was no repentance in his heart, only regret for where he found himself.
Abraham’s answer says it all: “And he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and
the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even though one rose from the dead”
(Luke 16:31). Here we see that the witness of the
Scriptures is sufficient for salvation for those who believe it, and no other
revelation will bring about salvation to those who do not. No second, third or
fourth chances would be enough to turn the heart of stone into a heart of
flesh. http://www.gotquestions.org/second-chance-salvation.html*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parables_of_Jesus*****
How many angels can fit on the head of a pin? None, or as many as God desires. Science is not the answer to our prayers. Hawai’i is insulated from conquest because of its isolation. Thence our ubiquitous welcoming aloha spirit — love and nothing but love.
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Female fecundity/childbirth are amazing phenomena which ensure propagation of species. Which is why human female child-bearing is worshipped in early ancient cave wall depictions/etc. The physically superior male defends the species, the female reproduces the species. No physical protection from the predators of ancient humankind, no procreation-childbirth. The male fights predators, the female reproduces the species. Because the male fights predators, the male is the boss of the species — at least traditionally.
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Ethos entail a moral economy balanced by duty towards those who lack means or who cannot perform such good. Ethos also entail taking the blame for something in order to solve an issue or save someone else. These are Christ’s examples of the right intent/heart, per Romans 12:1.
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Psalm 22:14-15 —
Christ was ground in body and spirit. In this case, He was bruised so badly He was barely recognizable as a man (Isaiah 52:14) and was so sapped of strength that He could not bear His cross of crucifixion alone. Another was compelled to bear it for Him because Jesus was already figuratively ground and ready to be put on the altar.
The lesson for us is that service to our fellow man is self-surrender and self-sacrifice. The nearer our service approaches His degree of self-sacrificing service the more we will resemble what happened to Him.
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because you pray for your adult daughter’s redemption, and you take on such prayer for redemption as your comfort/solace. Such comfort/solace are God’s Grace to you, and in this sense, such Grace is your heavenly burden, something you take on willingly and with unrequited love for your daughter’s wellbeing. I know that the word burden has a negative meaning, but not in relation to prayer. Aloha, –Curt
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The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory, & dedication to my raison d’etre sui generis saints Keoni & Lukini Andrew born 1942/1943
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Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
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fulfillment/Love in Heavenly Father’s Kingdom Beyond. Life’s trials/
tribulations test our resolve in our Heavenly Father, that is, if we are to serve well our Heavenly Father, for His Son Christ absolved us all of our sins — now it remains for us to lead our lost battalion to the Promised Land — by serving well Heavenly Father during our tenure here in our sentient/mortal life. A-mena. God bless Keoni & Lukini Andrew. Thine Will, Be Done.
Love for now and for always, –Curt
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Ili’s presence and energy inspire me to write of hope and happiness completely!! Life is no fun without Ili’s positive energy!! Yes, easier said than done to lecture that I should go to church to be with Jesus.
Recently Sempai born 1950 was energized by what he had written & published about getting pushed down to the ground by a huge 40-something yr. old tough guy in a road rage incident.
Sempai came to see me in to decompress from the fella with the road rage.
Sempai didn’t know it, but I was writing verses of hope and happiness as my gift to share with the world. Redemptive suffering. It was my birthday & I had no one to celebrate it with. So instead of being despondent, isolated, and so alone, I did a twist on fate & did what I love to do — to write of everlasting love, hope, and happiness. I irreversibly made my own desolate birthday completely fulfilling by writing of beauty in others such as my heroes Keoni & Lukini Andrew. This is the authenticity of redemptive suffering, not the cheesy pop fluff which passes off as sermons from proud hombres like Earl Dean E.
Nonetheless, I thank the Lord above for the beautiful coincidence of Sempai coming to see me for communion/togetherness, which made my birthday complete! Faith is not outcome dependent, so I don’t say that nothing ever is by coincidence. I don’t see God as bestowing good luck/blessings to keep my Faith. It is not outcome dependent! I firmly believe this, just as I don’t equate God with magic/hocus pocus.
Anyway, I shared with Sempai my deepest feelings, and that Sempai’s presence is positive, not negative.
Well, as the ole’ movie line goes, time for me to drive down that good ole’ highway to home!! Aloha & thank you always, –Curt
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per John 6:63. Not to constrain to oneself. Which is why I share Steven Kalas’ gift of
wisdom w/others.
From sage Steven Kalas on the immense power of forgiveness — When reconciliation is real, the injuries sustained and healed in relationships become perhaps the strongest part of the bond. Scars are made beautiful. Even treasured in some peculiar way.
We don’t aim at forgetting. Yet, when the power of forgiveness is asked for and given, the delightful paradox is that then we often do forget.
I accept my foe’s apology. Shortly and simply. I hope, graciously. Where there was once silent emptiness there now abides freedom and the exchange of peace.
I’m happy for both of us.
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one must make his and her own values in an indifferent world. One can live meaningfully [free of despair and anxiety] in an unconditional commitment to something finite, and devotes that meaningful life to the commitment, despite the external vulnerability inherent to doing so. I love history. I love life. My existential definition lies right here, right at this instant.
Yes, we try our best to be authentic, however clumsily we plod forward, and in this sense, as with life overall, Redemption is key, brought on by God’s Grace.
Recount their legacy. Right now. And be grateful.
Love life, even if love does not come to you. You shall be rewarded in the afterlife, with faith in our Heavenly Father.
if I don’t measure up in your eyes. I shall move
on, knowing that my love for you is true.
When I am ignored/forgotten, or when I await a minus/negative communication as one unburdens of me, I repose and take comfort that love lives on in my heart and in the afterlife, and that just the same, romance never dies, now or in the hereafter.
person who mystifies me, the so-called unspoken one, like baby brother Andrew was to Peter [Bible]. God has no use for pride, such that the meekest of the meek went on to lead, like Moses/Gideon. Look at King David. Lowly Nathan chastened shell-shocked David. Look at Joshua/etc. All unheralded/unsung
heroes. Tremendous symbolism of “never judge a book by its cover.”
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Somewhere inside of everyone is the longing to hear the words, “I love you, and I will never leave you.”
Commitment is more than you ever knew you were to give. Which defies the counterculture B.S. that “if you love someone, set him/her free.” No, hunger after your loved one, choose such person with your mightiest heartbeat. Escape plan/exit route are not options, with true love. Commit to such person from the deepest part of your soul. No if, and, but about it. In surrendering yourself to love such person, you will find an even greater love in return, a mutuality twice or more as powerful as the love you earlier surrendered. Of course, if you do not find the love of your life, remember that you are guaranteed such person in the afterlife. Hope and redemption, allowed by Grace.
Romance and true love never die, here or in the afterlife! Pololei
[righteously].
the wealth that comes from knowing loss …
and the love, felt deepest,
by those who have been carved by pain.
I hope that you can value this imperfection,
hold on to it, so it gives you such comfort
that you will dare embrace the beauty
of all the imperfect lives that surround you,
and then you will be perfectly free
to step to the beat of your own imperfect heart,
and you will have truly lived.
the outcasts, of society, knowing that
these imperfect ones had a closer affinity
with God, more so than the overproud
decadent sentients in mansions & palaces.
To Jesus, imperfection is beautiful, as we
grow in God’s Holiness. His Holiness, is
not outcome dependent for us on earth.
Learning The Hard Way
You gave me a vision,
Of what life was to be,
You showed me the world,
What I was to see.
You promised me love,
Said you’d always be there.
To lend me a hand,
To show me you care.
We walked through the days,
Never rushing our steps.
We cherished our time,
For our time …well spent.
Then suddenly one day,
You came and took your love away.
As my heart began to sever,
I knew you were gone forever.
But not a tear did I cry.
I rushed through the days,
By myself, all alone.
I cherished our memories,
Although my angers grown.
Then one day I thought of you,
And sighed a bitter sigh.
The long awaited sadness,
Pierced my heart and … I cried.
I cried for …the empty dreams,
That people have these days.
I cried because I had a dream,
And … it slipped away.
I cried because a love like ours,
Was always meant to last.
To endure throughout eternity,
The present, …future, the past.
Although I wouldn’t have changed it,
In my heart I know it’s true.
A lesson learned the hard way,
Was the price of loving you.
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Kalas born 1957, a man wise way beyond
his years –
“I thought your mother married well,” he said blithely, simply, without hesitation.
I didn’t comment. But, within myself, I pondered the astonishing world wherein fathers can be convinced that fathering begins and ends with providing. As long as somebody is providing — in my case, an adoptive stepfather — then your job is done.
But it happens the story had a sequel, which I didn’t hear until years later over a few too many beers. Quite in passing, my birth-father told me that, after he left my mom, he had an elective surgery. A vasectomy.
He went on talking, but, inside, my mind raced. 1957. A healthy, single, 26-year-old American male steeped in a culture of patriarchy and virile machismo presents himself voluntarily to a doctor for a vasectomy? Unheard of! He dodged me that day in the car. Shrugged off my question. THIS WAS THE DEEPER TRUTH. It broke his heart to lose his children. And so he made certain he would never be a father again.
I let the moment go. I didn’t share my new theory with him. I tucked it away inside the vault of my own heart.
My birth-father died of pancreatic cancer as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were kicking the crap out of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 2003. “Well, Steven, it looks like you’ve made a good life for yourself,” were his last words to me.
The perfect last words. Man to man. Neither presumption, denial nor apology. All would have wasted our time. And he was done wasting time. I kissed him on the forehead, and turned my car toward Nevada.
If ever you have the choice between redemption and bitterness, choose redemption.
People who cherish great love are intentional about nurturing “connectedness.” Every day they wake up with some part of the brain asking and answering this question: How today will I let my loved one know that I’m lucky to know him or her at all?
Words. Touch. Service. Solicitation. Inquiry. Attention. Interest. Who in their right mind would put such things on a budget? Or ration them, like maybe you might run out? How can “miser” be a rational response to the gift of great love? The president of the United States during global, thermonuclear exchange is not without the 45 seconds a day it takes to text, e-mail or voice mail the words “I love you.”
Nobody goes to heaven and complains: “Well, it was OK I guess, but I was loved too much and too often by too many people. Sheesh, people were always telling me they loved me. If I never hear those words again it will be too soon.”
See. Nobody says that. Nobody. Love. It will nail your feet to
the floor. Like nothing before or since. “I love you, and I will never leave you.” Never, before or since.
Choose a view of the world that matches the beauty and the power of your empathy.
An elderly husband chides his elderly wife incessantly in the supermarket about making sure to buy whole wheat bread, and
not white bread.
Two aisles later, the husband looks at the list and notices aloud they’ve yet to find chewing gum. The wife, eyes feigning utter sincerity, says, “Maybe they have whole wheat gum.” Hubby makes as if to scold her, and walks away muttering with a smirk, then a smile.
Truthfully, he’s flattered. He admires her moxie, that she won’t take crap from him, even when he’s technically right. He needs for her, to let him know he’s a little full of himself, a little pretentious. Her intimate ironic comment keeps them close together. As always before and
hereafter.
Love conquers all [fear]. The power of love. Love never dies,
now or hereafter!
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-feiler/moses-vs-jesus-who-is-ame_b_311043.html
On July 4, 1776, immediately after passing the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress asked Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams to design a seal for the new United States. Six weeks later they made their recommendation: Moses, leading the Israelites across the Red Sea.
Three of the five drafters of the Declaration of Independence and three of the defining faces of the Revolution proposed that Moses be the face of the United States of America. In their eyes, Moses was our true founding father.
Four years ago I set out looking at the role of Moses in American life. I sailed on Plymouth Harbor where the Pilgrims compared their journey to Moses; I climbed the tower of Independence Hall where the Liberty Bell was inscribed with a quote from Moses; I retraced the Underground Railroad where “Go Down, Moses” was the national anthem of slaves; and I donned the robe Charlton Heston wore in The Ten Commandments.
One discovery surprised me most of all and reshaped my views of the culture wars of today: Moses has been more important to American history than Jesus.
Of course, Jesus was influential in American life. The United States at its founding was 100 percent Christian and is 75 percent Christian today. But as important as Jesus was to Americans’ private lives, he had far less influence than Moses on the great transformations of our public life. The themes of Jesus’ life — love, charity, poverty alleviation — would not make the list of the defining impulses of Americans.
The themes of Moses’ life, by contrast — social mobility, standing up to authority, balancing freedom and law, dreaming of a promised land — would make any short list of America’s defining traits.
Moses was more important to the Puritans. On The Mayflower, the Pilgrims carried Bibles emblazoned with Moses; they called King James their pharaoh; and they proclaimed their mission to be as vital as “Moses and the Israelites when they went out of Egypt.”
Moses was more important during the Revolution. Thomas Paine called King George the “hardened, sullen-tempered pharaoh”; Benjamin Franklin used Moses to help pass the Constitution; and George Washington was called “America’s Moses” for leading a beleaguered band of Colonists against the superpower of the day. When he died, two-thirds of the eulogies compared the “first conductor of the Jewish nation” to the “leader and father of the American nation.”
And Moses was more important during the Civil War. Slaves and Abolitionists rallied around Moses because he offered a precedent for escaping bondage; Harriet Tubman was so successful freeing slaves she was called “the Moses of her people.” Southerners, meanwhile, invoked the story, too, noting that Moses invited slaves to the first Passover.
It took America’s most Bible-quoting president to unite the country. Abraham Lincoln quoted the Exodus at Gettysburg, and, even though he was shot on Good Friday, Lincoln was more often compared to Moses upon his death. Eulogizers cited his freeing of the slaves and the fact that, like Moses, he died short of the Promised Land.
Not just American political events were shaped by Moses; American cultural figures were, too. The Statue of Liberty drew inspiration from the biblical prophet. The spikes of light around Lady Liberty’s head and the tablet in her arms come from the moment when Moses comes down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. Superman’s backstory also comes from the superhero of the Torah. Both figures were born to a people facing annihilation, floated to safety in a small vessel, then picked up and raised by strangers, before being summoned to save humanity. Even Superman’s original name, Kal-El, is Hebrew for “swift God.”
But it was Cecil B. DeMille who turned Moses into a hero of the Cold War. At the start of The Ten Commandments, which was released this week in 1956 and went on to become the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, DeMille appeared on screen to tell viewers the movie was about freedom versus communism. And at the end of the film, Charlton Heston quotes the words of Moses on the Liberty Bell and mimics the pose of the Statue of Liberty.
In recent years, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have all said they were inspired by Moses.
As historian Allen Guelzo told me, “The story of Jesus is extremely important. What is surprising is how persistently important the story of Moses remains.”
Why?
The answer, I believe, is that Moses represents the courage to leave oppression and create a better world. He embodies the American juggling act between freedom and law. And he encapsulates the desire to build a society that uplifts the downtrodden and nurtures the outsider.
For years, the culture wars have debated whether America is a Christian country. That debate misses the point. It was white male Protestants who introduced Moses into the American narrative, and his presence made it easier for blacks, Jews, and women to eventually integrate into American society. Precisely because he was invoked by left and right, Republican and Democrat, Jew and Christian, Moses may be the one cultural figure who can remind Americans of our common heritage and help restore a national conversation in how we can become a “promised land” once again.
Jesus makes clear that to forgive is to forget — propitiosity
“And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17
“God’s way of forgiving is thorough and hearty, -— both to forgive and to forget; and if thine be not so, thou hast no portion of His.” Leighton
A fella couldn’t get over being double-crossed by his longtime football buddy.
I tell him, “Brah’, you dwell in bitterness, not in Jesus’ redemption. Choose — be loved by Jesus or your football pal? Forgive yourself, don’t blame yourself for being a fool for redemption [of embracing fully life attendant w/risks of failure-rejection-derision-scorn].
You cannot control the destiny of your football friend, but you can master your attitude about yourself, of course with Jesus’ guidance/inspiration. Heavenly Father says that to forgive in our propiosity/divine revelation actually is to forget, brah’. Your failure, your hurt, your humiliation, visualize a box cupped in both hands, put all of your unbearable/unthinkable worlds in this little box — and give it to Jesus, brah’. Release yourself, distance yourself, from these worlds inside this box, and unburden yourself to Jesus. Give it to Jesus, brah’.
And just as you forgive yourself, you gonna’ be shocked & amazed how easily it’ll be forgotten. All praise to Jesus, brah’, all praise!!”
And this fella then let out a long-held sigh, and bowed his head, then raised his head, with a lovely glow and a handsome smile on his face. Faith, obedience, endure to the end, in Jesus — works wonders. Remember, faith is not outcome dependent. But Faith is about attitude, of the divine sort a la Revelation.
Love for now and forever.
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Jesus comes to transform people into their whole and authentic selves — Pick up your Cross and Follow Me
Ahh, to transform into something larger than our failed selves, such that Faith is not egocentric, not outcome dependent. So that when one listens to another regale of Jesus’ blessing, remember that nine times out of ten, outcomes are not what we desire, inasmuch such “blessing” may be among the rare 10% counted as positive results.
Such failure/shortcoming are our test of Faith, that Faith is not outcome dependent, but contingent on our total complete surrender to Jesus, and obedience in Him, with Faith in Him to endure to the end. Our unction/Holy Spirit directs our inner resolve quietly yet vigilantly.
When John the Baptist sorrowed over Jesus’ failure to see John the Baptist in prison, John the Baptist being held captive to be beheaded/decapitated, John cried out why hath the Messiah forsaken John the Baptist??!!
To which Jesus intoned via missive to John the Baptist, “Blessed are those who take no offense in Me.” Luke 7:24 And “blessed are those who hath patience in Me.” Matthew 19:14
The dearest phrase among devout Christians is that evoked by John the Baptist, “He must Increase, and I must decrease.” John 3:30
Of course, when John the Baptist was martyred, Jesus declared, “Hath no greater man walked the earth than John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:11
As brilliant sage Steven Kalas born 1958 says, Jesus comes to transform people into themselves. Their whole and authentic selves.
Jesus doesn’t say, “Pick up my cross and follow me.” He doesn’t say, “Help me carry my cross and follow me.” He says, “Pick up your cross (the cross that is uniquely your own life) and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
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Longing for matedness from cogent pundit Steven Kalas
From tremendous sage Steven Kalas born 1958 –
Nope, I don’t help people be OK with being alone. I invite them to embrace their longing for matedness. To dig deeply into it. To feel every bit of the ache. To let that deep longing become a team of powerful horses, pulling their hearts and lives into the future with vitality, intention and authenticity.
As to bracelets which read “What would Jesus Do?” Steven states —
Psychology, as a whole, is a lot friendlier to religiosity than widely thought. Both Freudian and Jungian psychology, for example, are useful models for inquiring after the measure of healthy religion. Or unhealthy.
C.G. Jung especially was compelled by what he observed as the “religious instinct” — the drive inside every human heart for transformation and wholeness, the instinct to reach for some paradigm greater than self as the only real path for finding a whole self.
Yes, Jung agreed, inside every human heart is a personal archetype of the divine. Jews might call this the Imago Dei (the image of God). Jung, reflecting his own Western culture, called it the Christ archetype.
But Jung issued a stern warning: Thou shalt not ego-identify with the collective Christ archetype. That’s fancy psychoanalytic talk for “thou shalt remember thou is not God.”
Next, the theology …
In baptism, God does not call folks to be Jesus. Neither has God called a Christian’s best celebrity impersonation of Jesus. God calls the inititate. The unique person. What Christians imitate in Jesus is not Jesus. They imitate the way Jesus was willing to be wholly and authentically Jesus, even at the cost of reputation, family and eventually his own life. Jesus does not come into the life of a Christian pilgrim to transform him/her into himself. No, he comes to transform people into themselves. Their whole and authentic selves.
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Go after true love — go for it!!
Go after true love, why be alone and lonesome? Go for it. Be real, be authentic and loving and intimate and nourishing. We are not meant to be alone, not when there are good people filled with positive hearts and souls.
Look at the Parables, which take up one-third of our Bible. The Parables say that when you least expect it, God shows up!!
Lookee here, Someone shows up!! Of course, one’s walk in Faith is paramount.
This is a treacherous walk, because we sentients are broken. But it’s a tragedy if we live out of our brokenness, instead of beyond it.
We decide to have the courage to be loved and likewise, that we/I want to love and cherish, till eternity. This is the righteous
path, to endure to the end.
Wishing is easy but senseless. I choose life. And the boundless joy which comes with it.
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Redemptive suffering — self-sacrifice for the good of another
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Redemptive suffering means to grace/forgive a plight/fate/person for your self-sufferance which averts another person from suffering, typified by Scripture’s Hath No Greater Love than to Lay Down One’s Life for Another. John 15:13
Traditional Catholicism’s redemptive suffering about punishment and more punishment wholly is off the mark. This is the Vatican’s spool to rope you in for indulgences/money. Its golden rule is whoever has the gold rules, straight from our Pontiff’s pulpit.
Dostoevsky dives into the dual nature of suffering — orthodox Catholic punishment, and Dostoevsky’s Sonya as the whore/saint who suffers because of and for others, and thus becomes most Christ-like as Sonya Grows in His Holiness, no matter her social standing/economic status on our mortal plane.
Magnanimous Victor Frankl’s exemplar of the old man who finally realizes that his suffering the loss of his lifelong dearest companion wife allows her not to suffer if her husband had died before her — releases this husband from his misery and pain of losing his wife. He suffers because of and for his departed wife, and such suffering finally is accepted with tremendous equanimity by the heretofore tormented husband. Redemptive suffering!!
And as with extraordinary sage Steven Kalas’ example about his biological father who gave up Steven born 1957 and his older sister for adoption to Steven’s biological mother and her new husband when Steven was just one year old, to afford Steven and his sister a better life with Steven’s biological mother & adoptive father — at which time Steven’s biological dad chose a vasectomy — THIS WAS THE HIGHER/DEEPER TRUTH!! It broke dad’s heart to lose his children. And so he made certain he never would be a father again!! The Ultimate Disguised Blessing is that Steven’s biological dad’s vasectomy exemplified/suffused of redemptive suffering a la Dostoevsky’s Sonya/Frankl’s exemplar of the old man.
So if you have a choice between redemption/forgiveness and bitterness, choose redemption, no matter how difficult emotionally it is!!
Just the same, cogent Amy Aihara evokes of Biblical David, that David lamented incessantly over the death of his infant son, interceding/interposing that David desired that David’s life end so that his infant son lives, to no avail. But voila! As suddenly as death came, so suddenly did God expiate/purge David of David’s guilt/remorse, God allowing Grace upon David, so that David was able to forgive himself!!
Of course, God had much greater plans for David, such that among our most auspicious passages in Scripture is God reposing in, “Look at David, he’s after God’s [My] Heart!! 1 Samuel 14 [A Man After My Own Heart]
If ever you have the choice between redemption and bitterness, shower rainbows of redemption!!
Love never ends, here or in the afterlife.
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The gift of giving, nonsensical as it sounds
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I vowed to myself that last December’s one special day of the year for me, when I reckon I cry to be pampered and spoiled, coddled and caressed, felt to climax in mind-blowing ecstacy — that instead of being forsaken to indifference and irrelevance, and relegated to heartbreaking entropy and solitary isolated desolation — I’d pull a twist on fate and give to those dearest to me what I tap as my gift from within on my birthday, my “wish verses” of hope and happiness — after all, for what is a gift but to be shared — the gift of sharing is the Ultimate Disguised Blessing to what a gift really is — to share is the Highest Truth.
Unspeakably and unthinkably exceptional sage Steven Kalas born 1957, a person wise way beyond his years, just as Jesus was when Jesus self-actualized, transformed, and transcended the field of our failed human condition, at age 30 [akin back then to Steven Kalas’ age today], emotes most immensely of our gift of suffering to redeem our humanity, in service to Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice for us all by giving up His Life for our sins — in Steven’s heartstopper tribute to his dearest son here —
BEAUTY OFTEN COMES FROM THE BROKEN PLACES
STEVEN KALAS
HUMAN MATTERS
Pop, am I broken?”
I’m doing dishes, and the question catches me off-guard. Out of context. I turn, hands still in the sink, to see my eldest son, Jonathan, standing in the doorway. I offer him an expression of unknowing.
He points at the huge bandage on his right eye. He is convalescing from his fifth eye surgery in three years. He asks again, “Am I broken?”
My boy has Marfan’s syndrome. Named after Antoine Marfan, a French pediatrician, Marfan’s syndrome is an inherited genetic disorder of the connective tissue. A dominant gene encoding a protein. It has deleterious effects on vascular smooth muscle development.
Luck of the draw. A random outcome of throwing the genetic dice. It happens.
People with Marfan’s are tall. Long arms. Long fingers. Long legs. Absurdly ectomorphic. Once I learned about the disease, it was obvious, in retrospect. When Jonathan was born, it was like unfolding a ventriloquist dummy out of a suitcase. All arms and legs, with a boy attached.
I just thought he was skinny and tall.
But, in the early spring of his eighth-grade year, he walked up to me one morning and simply announced that he could see out of only the bottom half of his right eye. This time of morning, I expect “Are we out of Pop-Tarts? … Have you seen my shoes? … Do you have my lunch money?” But not, “I’m blind in one-half of my eye.”
Two doctors later, he was in surgery that night. His retina had spontaneously detached. It missed his optic nerve by a gnat’s whisker. The surgeon treated him like a man. Told him gently, clearly, but firmly, that this surgery might not save his sight. I have no idea where Jonathan found the grace and courage to absorb this news. His first lucid words upon awaking from anesthesia were simply, “Will I be able to see?”
He spent two weeks horizontal, face down, on a massage table.
And still, nobody knew what was really going on. The surgeon said that some people are just born with thin retinas.
In the fall of Jonathan’s senior year, he underwent a routine physical for basketball. There was an irregularity in his EKG. Now a referral to a pediatric cardiologist. One echocardiogram later, and Jonathan’s days in contact sports were over. His aorta was dangerously enlarged.
Now everything began to string together. Now it all made sense.
He took it. He stood up to it and with it. He marched on. Grieving, yes, his dreams about basketball, but somehow managing it all.
Tonight is the first real fracture in his noble armor: “Pop, am I broken?”
Now I understand his question. I move, wiping my hands on my pants, my heart breaking as I step toward him. And, you know, sometimes, for reasons I don’t understand, something takes over in the human heart. And just the right words pour out of your mouth.
“Jonathan … everybody’s broken. Everything is broken on this side of the grave. Nothing is completely as it ought to be.”
Indeed. Chaos relentlessly stalks the everyday sensibility of order and meaning and sanity, looking for a place to sneak in. This is the human condition. The nature of creation. Sometimes airplanes crash on your house while you’re barbecuing in the backyard. Sometimes tires blow, and cars, one moment speeding blithely toward a family vacation, are now upside-down in the median with broken and injured people inside. People die. Children are exploited and abused. Sometimes your most heroic efforts to love someone are not enough to make them stay.
And sometimes one stupid protein sitting on the wrong helix makes your retinas fall off and enlarges your aorta.
And then the rest of the words come. They pour out of my mouth as if dictated from a source way wiser than me: “All I can promise you, boy, is that, if you’ll endure, the most beautiful things in life come from exactly those broken places.”
He stares for a moment, incredulous. And then he does something he hasn’t done since he fell off his bike when he was 7. He lays his head on my shoulder and cries. Heaves his grief. I feel like Atlas, holding up the Earth.
Jonathan exchanged his heroism for another, deeper heroism. He leaned into his grief, his brokenness, and surrendered. For you see, that is the only way to make a path for the beautiful things to emerge.
The most beautiful things in life come from our brokenness. I promise you.
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Shower a rainbow for others
The capacity for gratitude is itself humility. Gratitude and humility are symbiotic. The only people who can say “thank you” are people who have learned of dependence and interdependence. The best of life is not a result of what shortfall we deserve, but the opposite, of simple yet profound indulgences and pleasures — a smile, a tear of joy.
Well, I totally appreciated your Shower a Rainbow for Others. Especially because you understand how devasted I was at the loss of my dad and later my mom. Thank you. You helped me get through it! You were my rainbow! aloha, denise
Triumph and tragedy
On the other hand, heroic failure a la Obama-thology
describes a person or group failing to accomplish their goal, but somehow gaining the metaphysical upper hand or becoming ennobled in the attempt.
Tragedy results in a catharsis/therapy [emotional cleansing] or healing for the audience through the experience/absorption of these emotions/
energy in response to the suffering of the characters in the drama.
embodiment of tragedy hopefully avert recurrence of such tragedy in the future.
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Donald Trump is our conceited 3-time bankrupt sycophant/rastignac. Donald can’t hold a candle to Mitt Romney, financially or otherwise. Donald’s boasted wealth is way over his actual net worth. Donald’s holdings are private, and his purported wealth is his deepest secret. Transparency is not in Trump’s vocabulary. Trump is everything we repulse at — overpride/jealousy/greed/anger-intemperance. Trump still has a chance to be a Parable incarnate [Parable of the Harvest, as a nailed to the floor servant of Christ], but unlikely at this point.
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Stateside Japanese Americans [kotonks for stubborn hard shell heads] vs. Hawai’i Japanese Americans [buddaheads] — exemplar Brian Niiya’s misconceptions, per KL Ching —
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Source: Journey to Honouliuli by Brian Niiya, 17 April, 2008.
1) “though less than 1% of the local Japanese population suffered, the impact was profound since those interned were leaders of the local Japanese community”. KL view: There were many other leaders of the local Japanese community ranging from the Japanese Chamber of Commerce to individuals such as Masaji Marumoto, Shigeo Yoshida, Katsumi Kometani had major influence over the Japanese community. the impact was profound because of the fear of persecution/helplessness, not because of the men who were interned.
2) “The story of those interned has largely been forgotten”. KL view: There is nothing significant to be remembered? the internees repressed their experiences out of shame/embarassment — thus their thoughts are important to remember.
3) Those 300 interned were mostly kibei which was the concern of MI and the FBI. in 1941 & 1942, the threat of invasion from Japan was real & actual.
4) The Board of the Cultural Center felt that Brian had similar kinds of work at JANM and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. KL view: Brian’s background is actually the worst Kontonk/UCLA centric view which is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than the Hawaii AJA achievements by the 100th/442nd in combat in Europe and the Hawaii Issei and Nisei socio economic, political and artistic/cultural achievements in Hawaii. JANM is one MASSIVE display of an intern camp with some space dedicated to Kotonk economic commercial achievements. There is zero Hawaii AJA participation. Brian’s background is a totally DISTORTED and BIASED background. Brian is a company man.
5) The “Dark Clouds” publication and issue (initial internment of 1000 mostly kibei in Hawaii) takes a desperate war time situation (Sneak attack on Pearl Harbor) and tries to make a civil rights case like the No No boys. Also included were many Buddhist Priests. What do we know about the loyalty of Buddhist priests in Hawaii? Hongwanji priests were assimilative to U.S. because Japan State Shinto contravened Buddhism — Shinto priests were pro-Japan. Niiya as proponent of No-No boys is unfortunate, because our infantry martyrs in 100th/442nd saved our Japanese race both in U.S. & in Japan — yes, also in Japan!
6) I am going to review again Brian’s video which struck me as over simplified with family members saying that “we did not commit any illegal acts”. Of course not, we prevented sabotage and protected the civil rights of 100 thousands of AJA s. Brian’s video is self serving. JACL bullshit is JANM’s ass-kissing — JACL has persecution complex/histrionic mentality.
Please comment. Regards, KL
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I have studied Brian Niija’s article on the AJA internment and have found quite a number of his views on the internment disturbing, and he misrepresents history (e.g. does he know that Masaji and Shigeo working with HW were making great strides in developing inter-racial harmony in Hawaii during the 1930s?) . –KL
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Boxing czar Bobby Lee born 1921 and dream fight of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao
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Even miracle maker Bobby Lee would not be able to get Mayweather in the ring vs. Pacquiao. Simple numbers [of punches] tell the whole story — if Pacquiao lands just 40%
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of his 1,000 punches per fight against Mayweather, Pacquiao still wins by out-busying Mayweather, who throws only 500 punches per fight [half of Pacquiao’s punches thrown] & might land 50% [if only by grazing Pacquiao, not
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landing solidly], 50% numbering only 250 punches. Pacquiao’s 400 punches vs. Mayweather’s 250 punches, a difference of 150 punches — considering that 150 punches account for over half of all punches landed by Mayweather,
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the results undeniably favor Pacquiao. Bobby’s worked miracles before [in world title fight overseas, Bobby brokered titlist to fight based on bigger money purse just hrs. before fight time inasmuch titlist came in overweight & was
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required to forfeit his title]. And Bobby courageously stood up to legend Ali [Bobby thumbed down brain damaged Ali from fighting in Hawai’i], forever incurring the wrath of local promoter Sad Sam Ichinose [Ichinose & Bobo
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Olson were enshrined by world boxing godfather Hank Kaplan to the International Boxing Hall of Fame — Hank had Kui Kong Young born 1916 & Bobby up for enshrinement but Hank died within months of being afflicted with
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cancer in 2007 — Hank loved Hawai’i & knew well our principal participants like Bobby Lee, though Bobby demurely foregoes that Hank knew Bobby like the back of Hank’s hand. Hank always asked me how Bobby Lee is
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coming along [Bobby is our boxing oyabun — Nippon for leader — going on 65 yrs.!!].
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Boxing siblings from the Hawaiian Islands —
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Our numerous Ledesma boys are the most auspicious boxing brothers [starting w/Joe from the post-bootleg 1929 genre], followed by our Yasui boys [starting w/Johnny 3 yrs. older than Joe Ledesma], and in Hilo we have our Manalo brothers [Marciel/Fidel/Larry/Tommy/Isaac — Fidel the toughest, though Larry KO’d lethal puncher Sus Tomori of the glass jaw weakness] — Ledesma/Manalo being Filipino, Yasui being Japanese. Former boxer Chris Salomon born 1930 is our Hilo’s Waiakea Uka nearly 6 ft. Pinoy [part-Chinese] flame. Chris regales about Oldtimer Boxing Club chief Bobby Hayashida born 1932, Waiakea Uka Camp 6 native who was a 1956 Olympic tryout entrant at Rome NY invited by ubiquitous Floyd Patterson/Jose Torres/Mike Tyson handler/mgr. Cus D’Amato to come to Cus’ training camp hopefully to join Cus’ team. Hayashida is thorn-literal about another person’s description of Hayashida’s bio background. This narrative is not about Bobby. It’s about boxing overall in Hawai’i. Waiakea Uka produced the greatest compilation of boxing icons in the Hawaiian Islands — led by posthumous legend Paul Inamine [killed in the Pearl Harbor attack http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsframe.htm], & incl. prodigious Bobby Hayashida/Richard Pablo Chinen [our Hilo Civic Auditorium partial namesake]/Joho Shiroma [who fought several pro world champs in Shiroma’s pro career]/Henry Moe Oshiro [former Advertiser editor Sandra’s dad]/Slim Suzuki/Charley Higa/etc.
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Waiakea-Uka Camp 8 [where Ed Sumitani born 1921 lives a quarter mile in the Puna direction of the junction of Ainaola Drive & Mala’ai Rd.] consolidated/merged w/Camp 6 [today’s Ainaola Cash & Carry area] prior to WWII. Camp 8 produced bootleg pro boxers [Great Depression era] Bulldog Emilio/KO Katsumoto/Dionicio Galon/Pedro Montibon/Domingo Castillo. Camp 6 produced pro Charley Higa [Camp 5 had pro Joho Shiroma — Charley straight up strict as a coach/Joho more about boxing skills though strict like Charley], but all of Uka’s camps’ greatest boxer was Camp 4’s Paul Inamine, who died in the Pearl Harbor attack, followed by Camp 6’s Bobby Hayashida born 1932 [today’s Oldtimers Boxing Club chief]/Rich Pablo Chinen/Henry Oshiro. Camp 5 produced pro Slim Suzuki.
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Of course, Waikiki native Celestial Chinese drop-dead handsome David Kui Kong Young born 1916 [95 yrs. young in 2 months] is the greatest-ever boxer from the Hawaiian Islands [Kui Kong’s wife is Hilo doll Isabel Dart], followed in order of priority by a peak Dado Marino of Hilo’s Wainaku village [not the same Korean War era pro world titlist Dado, but the virulent/potent prime same Dado of WWII], then Bobo Olson [whose Luso-Portuguese roots are in Honoka’a on the Big Island], then Frankie Fernandez [not the loudmouth-Luso faladoo Wainaku Frankie]. Philippine products Small Montana/Little Dado [not Dado Marino]/Rush Dalma rank up here with Kui Kong in fistic splendor among Hawai’i fans. Ben Villaflor is a recent counter-puncher who adds a modicum of talent among contempos. Local native Brian Viloria is a non-entity with no strategy/power. Jesus Salud has a solid chin but nothing else. Andy Ganigan has a lethal overhand left but nothing else. Stan Harrington/Paul Fujii/Rolando Navarrete are recent titlists who rank below our fistic greats above.
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Boxing’s greatest historian/chronicler Hank Kaplan 1919-2007 — Hall of Fame czar who postulated “progressive evolution” [New beats the Old]
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Hank was my mentor in boxing, and we had great interchanges of thoughts. Hank advocated progressive evolution, the most notable acolyte
being former titlist & current analyst Sean O’Grady. Hank respected my divergence [I denote that athleticism is like an instrument which can
be measured over the long stretch of time, and that the Old is just as good as the New despite today’s high tech gadgets/training] — despite
Hank’s instructions & mentoring of me — I advocate that the greatest of fighters adapt/adjust to the conventions/standards of the epoch/era.
Thence, a Sam Langford a century ago who beat everyone from his start at 133 lbs. at lightie up to 160 lbs. when he KO’d heavyweights — had immense power
a la Mike Tyson, coupled with tremendous discipline a la Bernard Hopkins, along with lightning quick reflexes a la Roy Jones Jr. — and Sam undeniably
could dominate today’s crop from Roberto Duran at lightie to the Klitschko brothers at heavie. Even invincibles of the 1800s could beat today’s crop —
such that undefeated lightie Jack McAuliffe would outpoint a prime Dela Hoya or Mosley or Whitaker at lightie, and such that Aussie feather Young Griffo would
outpoint a Naseem Hamed or Pacquiao at feather. The list goes on and on with immortals of the 1800s like fly Jim Barry outpointing today’s fly Norito
Donaire/etc.
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“Progressive reform” easier said than done, for example Obama’s failure on marijuana legalization [“Thomas'” forte]. Dominic Yagong’s wisdom and uncanny prophecy on merging home rule and fuel tax allocations are a textbook example of the greatest of leadership traits — altruism [clean heart] and innovation [courage to reach beyond the conventional], anchored by popular support [grassroot fairness/result]. Greatest of leaders include unheralded [today] John Hulten http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Jun/13/ln/ln10a.html
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Never judge a book by its unadorned cover. Unadorned Hulten was golden inside [altruism/valor/grassroot support]. Treasures in earthen vessels, like Dominic Yagong. 2 Corinthians 4:7
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Posted on: Thursday, June 13, 2002
John J. Hulten, 88, proponent of state-run interisland ferry
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
John J. Hulten, former state senator and longtime proponent of an interisland ferry system, died Sunday. The Kailua resident was 88.
Hulten was a Democrat who represented Windward O’ahu in the Senate from 1962 to 1978. In 1967, Hulten was named Senate president, a position he held for two sessions.
Former Republican Sen. D.G. “Andy” Anderson represented Windward O’ahu with Hulten when multiple senators were elected to the same district. Anderson said Hulten was an “honest, common sense guy.”
“Black was black and white was white and if it got too gray he wanted to know why,” Anderson said yesterday.
Former Hawai’i Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen served with Hulten in the Senate in the late 1960s. Heen’s first job out of college also was as a junior appraiser under Hulten and partner John Child.
Heen left the firm after a few months to enter law school and later politics. But Heen said he always valued Hulten’s intellect.
“He was highly recruited by all of us because he was respected for his intelligence, his wisdom, his knowledge, particularly of real estate values and land use,” Heen said.
Hulten was born Nov. 2, 1913, in San Francisco. He began his business career with the San Francisco Bank, where he worked as a loan clerk until 1945.
He later worked as regional tax adviser with the U.S. Public Housing Administration. In 1948, he moved to Hawai’i when he was named chief appraiser for the Veteran Administration.
In 1951, Hulten and Child opened a business that provided real estate appraisals and economic studies. In 1957, he opened a consulting firm that specialized in urban renewal projects.
In the late 1950s, Hulten began to promote the idea of a state-run interisland ferry system. He said the system would be an economic plus for the Islands and could employ hundreds of people.
Hulten was elected to the Senate in 1962 and continued to push the ferry plan. In 1965 the Legislature passed a measure that would set up the system, but the state was unable to find a vessel to lease.
In addition to his political and business careers, Hulten was an active member of the Catholic Church.
Hulten is survived by his wife, Helen; sons, John Jr. and Thomas; daughter, Virginia Klein; 11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and brother, Clarence.
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Kwong See Wo was Hilo’s premier “touristy” store. It means right merchandise peace [kwong see wo].
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Visayans are known for playing stringed instruments [incl. piano], Illocanos for brass/woodwinds.
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from irascible yet imaginative Sempai Dwight Kondo born 1950, after being banished by Tiff Edwards Hunt of Big Island Chronicle 1/6/12 —
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The Missive —
I drank too much at your bar, you say,
from sweetheart Nani Kyota —
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Love, Laughter & Life
Nani
While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, “where’s the line to see Jesus”?My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus. My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios. It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus… with goosebumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville… still no response. Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD’s, iTunes, anything… we had nothin’. After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring… this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs… the real deal…. and here we are today. Getting iTunes set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together… remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults can not understand. Hopefully Spencer’s observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you. Merry Christmas everyone.
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from Sempai Dwight Kondo born 1950 —
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We have all been told that Ends are Beginnings too. And as promised, few know when either comes until begun –either too late but always inevitable. I think no matter how bleak and dismal all reports, no matter if contrived, manipulated or factual no matter the lies, psyops or real history no matter the deception, treachery and corruption, we have all been told that Ends are Beginnings too.
To all the parents that have made sacrifice for their children protecting every generation as you again would too, To all the foolish soldiers who died for their Mothers, To the 500 generations that measure our ten thousand year descent obeying our Fathers To all the poor and oppressed beseeching God to answer, It is we that may finally know.
So open your eyes to gain on the darkness, say and speak everything you know now. Do not wait to reason with the policeman, Do not sharpen your argument for a judge. Do not practice your logic on your prison guard Do not seek sympathy from your executioner Do not wait to rationalize your life to God. Do it now! Now say and act on the things you know true Now is the only time we have left. kondo 1/16/12
crosswords or scrabble? what kind of puzzle-solver are you?
Which do you prefer, crossword puzzles or scrabble?
Your answer might say more about you than you think.
What if understanding what kind of puzzle-solver you were could help you break out of a rut, find a creative solution to a vexing problem, or make a really difficult decision a lot easier?
Me, I’m a crossword puzzler. I like words — but more than that, I like thinking about the meanings of words. I love wrestling with a tough bunch of clues attached to a frighteningly blank grid of black-and-white squares. I especially love sparring with my opponent — the puzzle designer — whose goal is to try to deceive me, baffle me, or at least temporarily confuse me, by the carefully selected and cryptic clues at the bottom of the page.
Now, lots of friends of mine are addicted to Scrabble. That is, they are addicted to the wildly popular online versions of a Scrabble-like game that is no longer called Scrabbulous. They know how much I love crosswords, so they wonder why I do not join in. It’s the same thing, right? Placing letters onto a grid to form intersecting words? Only instead of competing against an unseen puzzle writer, I’d be competing against other people!
I used to wonder why I didn’t care for Scrabble, too. I mean, it’s okay. I think I own a copy of the game, somewhere. But I’ll tell ya, I don’t keep a game of Scrabble in the bathroom, and I don’t keep a set of letter tiles next to the bed. That’s where the crosswords live, in my world.
Well, it turns out that there is a difference — a big difference — between crosswords and Scrabble.
It occurred to me the other day, while I was reading something for school.
In a crossword puzzle, there is always an answer. Crossword puzzles don’t get published unless they obey a number of very strict, sometimes really esoteric rules.
In Scrabble, you are given a handful of random letter tiles, out of which you may or may not be able to form a word (in combination with a letter or letters already on the gameboard).
In crossword puzzles, you know a solution exists.
In Scrabble, you don’t know if a solution exists or not.
I like crosswords for the same reason that I always liked geometry — and disliked algebra — when I was in high school. When you are solving a geometry proof, you know that the lines and angles need to obey certain rules, and that they have certain properties that you can trust. You can rely on a right angle to always be 90 degrees, you can rely on the angles that make up a line to equal 180 degrees… and parallel lines will never, ever touch.
I loved solving proofs in geometry and knowing the answer was there, somewhere, if I only looked at it in just the right way, if I just had enough time, and could focus, and knew all the rules.
(By the way, even though I am generally a fan of algebra, I didn’t like algebra once I was introduced to equations in which more than one answer was possible. Although when that happened once in a crossword puzzle in the New York Times, I have to admit it was pretty cool.)
Scrabble skeeves me out. Scrabble is random. Scrabble does not guarantee a solution. Scrabble introduces more uncertainty into an already uncertain world. Scrabble is an unreliable narrator, and it’s for people who are much more comfortable with existentialism than I am.
So what does this have to do with anything?
Well, I’ve been wrestling with a number of intractable puzzles myself lately. Writing projects that require creative ideas and persuasive arguments that I don’t currently have on hand. Interpersonal relationships that require sensitivity and tact that can occasionally be difficult to summon. Plans for the future that require nimble moves and rapid adjustments, when fear and doubt might instead turn my mental muscles slack and my intrepidity… anemic. (I told you I liked words.)
And the other day, when I remembered why I love crossword problems, I realized that I might be able to apply the same logic to my own problems.
Just assume that there is a solution.
Then find it.
See, when I fear that there might not be a solution, that’s when I panic, and my puzzle-solving synapses fizzle and sputter. But if I just pretend… if I just act as if there is definitely a viable solution, then everything calms down and I can think.
So I tried it. And, for three consecutive mornings, I woke up with the answer — the solution — to each of my most pressing puzzles just sitting there, fully formed, in my head.
What if you’re a Scrabbler? Can you play a similar mind game on yourself? I’m not sure; I don’t know the mind of the Scrabbler as well as I know my own. But I would love to find out. Are you a Scrabbler? Can you play a similar trick on yourself, to force yourself to find the solution you crave?
Puzzles are, in the entirely standard meaning here employed, that special category of problems that can serve to test ingenuity or skill in solution. Dictionary illustrations are ‘jigsaw puzzle’ and ‘crossword puzzle,’ Consider the jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are selected at random from each of two different puzzle boxes. Since that problem is likely to defy … even the most ingenious of men, it cannot serve as a test of skill in solution. In any usual sense it is not a puzzle at all. Though intrinsic value is no criterion (of goodness) for a puzzle, the assured existence of a solution is.” (Kuhn, 1962)
Kuhn, T.S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL.
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6 Responses to crosswords or scrabble? what kind of puzzle-solver are you?
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Jim, thank you for that awesome insight into what Scrabble is really all about! I understand its appeal so much better now — and have a better understanding of why I continue to be incompatible with it. (I was also always very bad at/not interested in RISK, which I am starting to see some parallels with.)
And you do a great job of extending the metaphor of how it helps you with problem solving. I love your emphasis on knowing what you can control and what you cannot, and the implicit trust in yourself and your abilities to see you through.
Because you always have to count yourself among your assets in the first place.
(Along with a wheelbarrow, which is also always handy to have around.)
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Interesting article, but I just don’t see how Scrabble and Crosswords are exclusive – why only one? I love them both: Scrabble when I feel social, and Crosswords when I want to curl up alone with a pencil. It seems you are limiting yourself to only one mode of problem solving, when you could choose so many more. Some problems may not have one right answer you have to tease out. Or may require some level of randomness for something really fabulous to emerge. If you want to go to a completely different set of skills still inside of the word game genre, go for Apples to Apples. This game requires much less knowledge about a word (although nuances and irony are great additions) as it does knowing the person who will be judging the answers. People who want there to be a right answer HATE this game. But people who are good at this game are good at reading other people. Play ‘em all!
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You’re right — they’re not exclusive. My point was merely that there is a substantive difference between the two, which I had been eluding me for some time. It is also certainly true that there are many, many ways to solve problems, and to go about it; I’ve been interested lately in discovering which ways work best for me, and why. Once I understand that, I find it’s easier to move out of the comfort zone and into playing with other cognitive models. I’m a very solitary person — I get recharged by spending lots and lots of time alone, in silence — so crosswords are almost meditative for me. I tend to be, quite honestly, inappropriately competitive with games like Scrabble, which not only makes it less fun to play (for both me and my opponent) but also distracts me from HOW to play, and makes me far less capable at the game.
I’ve *never* heard of Apples to Apples — but it sounds fascinating. Less about problem solving and more about solving the problem of the person across from you… very cool!
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Your comment about being inappropriately competitive made me smile. My family playing Scrabble nearly defines inappropriately competitive
Your insight on the differences definitely makes sense…and I have thought about your post over this long weekend of playing lots of games with the kids about what kinds of games they enjoy and what that says about them. Definitely interesting. And after many sessions clocked with “Sorry”, cards, Hearts, Apples to Apples (super fun – I recommend it, but it’s not rocket science), and what not, I was definitely ready to check out for awhile with the Sunday Times Crossword. A long while Thanks for a thought provoking post. -
Interesting… as I read your description just kept thinking I play Scrabble with the mindset that there IS a solution and I just have to find it. That’s how I did math too (which I love btw) and how I do my art too.
To me the joy is that you can approach it from various angles or employ whatever means you need to reach that goal (and that goes for Scrabble, math and art too) – there’s no one path to get there. Crosswords to me are rote information and rather dull, the answers may be certain but the path to finish it isn’t very creative or interesting.I admit I can also be inappropriately competitive.
Moving to the UK changed that.
KDG | 
Curtis Narimatsu 
I love both crossword puzzles and Scrabble, but for very different reasons. Your take on crosswords is very apt, but with Scrabble you’re off the mark.
Scrabble isn’t a puzzle game it’s a war game. You have:
tiles – assets with limited distribution and different values
the board – real estate to control
drawing from the bag – random events that affect your outcome
intelligence – knowing tile distribution and tiles left in the bag
Sure, you also have to make words from your tiles but you also have to shape how your opponent can play theirs. Building a vocabulary of root words helps to chain together, or build out, shorter words. Using words that can’t be added to or pluralized is also an effective strategy.
So how do I use this in my everyday problem solving? I face each problem/opportunity in a similar way. Understand my resources and what events I can control, adjust accordingly during the process and trust my knowledge and experience to carry the day.
My Scrabble Fu is strong.