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"DISAPPEARED NEWS" - 1 NEW ARTICLE
1. Speaker Calvin Say reportedly plans to screw the environment with
corporate-written amendment
2. More Recent Articles
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Speaker Calvin Say reportedly plans to screw the environment with
corporate-written amendment
by Larry Geller Henry Curtis sends this important notice( "CD1" is
"Conference Draft 1", which means that this new text will replace what
was in the bill previously ): House Speaker Calvin Say is pushing HB 2863
Proposed CD1 which would kill all public participation, all utility
reviews, all interagency approvals, all county reviews, and give one
person, the DBEDT Director, power to approve....
More Recent Articles
* Trial of 26 CIA agents underway in Italy
* Superferry under the microscope
* Honolulu City Council deadlocked on transit vote, but that's a gain
for Phileas
* Saving newspapers requires "vitality"
* Today in Hawaiian history: April 15, 1899, Father Damien dies
________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:00:23 -1000
From: Kealii Makekau <kealii8@lava.net>
Subject: [halaumele] MAY 1 -- Longshoremen to close ports on West Coast
to protest war
This is not an alarm, just be aware May 1st longshoremen protest to close
West coast ports where 99% of all goods to Hawaii come from. Hawaii does
not grow enough, produce enough etc. to sustain the 1.something million
population in the islands. GOOD IDEA to stock up on some basic home needs
i.e., rice, baby milk/food/diapers, toilet tissue, can goods and even your
Rx if you need to! Suppose to be a one-day protest!
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:27:35 -1000
http://www.sfgate. com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi? file=/c/a/ 2008/04/09/
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/04/09/>
ED8L101F5U.DTL
Longshoremen to close ports on West Coast to protest war
Jack Heyman
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
While millions of people worldwide have marched against the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, and last week's New York Times/CBS News poll
indicated that 81 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong
direction - key concerns being the war and the economy - the war
machine inexorably grinds on.
Amid this political atmosphere, dockworkers of the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union have decided to stop work for eight
hours in all U.S. West Coast ports on May 1, International Workers'
Day, to call for an end to the war.
This decision came after an impassioned debate where the union's
Vietnam veterans turned the tide of opinion in favor of the anti-war
resolution. The motion called it an imperial action for oil in which
the lives of working-class youth and Iraqi civilians were being
wasted and declared May Day a "no peace, no work" holiday. Angered
after supporting Democrats who received a mandate to end the war but
who now continue to fund it, longshoremen decided to exercise their
political power on the docks.
Last month, in response to the union's declaration, the Pacific
Maritime Association, the West Coast employer association of
shipowners, stevedore companies and terminal operators, declared its
opposition to the union's protest. Thus, the stage is set for a
conflict in the run up to the longshore contract negotiations.
The last set of contentious negotiations (in 2002) took place during
the period between the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the invasion of
Iraq. Representatives of the Bush administration threatened that if
there were any of the usual job actions during contract bargaining,
then troops would occupy the docks because such actions would
jeopardize "national security." Yet, when the PMA employers locked
out the longshoremen and shut down West Coast ports for 11 days, the
"security" issue vanished. President Bush then invoked the Taft-
Hartley Act, forcing longshoremen back to work under conditions
favorable to the employers.
The San Francisco longshore union has a proud history of opposition
to the war in Iraq, being the first union to call for an end to the
war and immediate withdrawal of troops. Representatives of the union
spoke at anti-war rallies in February 2003, including one in London
attended by nearly 2 million people, the largest ever held in
Britain. Executive Board member Clarence Thomas went to Iraq with a
delegation to observe workers' rights during the occupation.
At the start of the war in Iraq, hundreds of protesters demonstrated
on the Oakland docks, and longshoremen honored their picket lines.
Without warning, police in riot gear opened fire with so-called less-
than-lethal weapons, shooting protesters and longshoremen alike with
wooden dowels, rubber bullets, pellet bags, concussion grenades and
tear gas. A U.N. Human Rights Commission investigator characterized
the Oakland police attack as "the most violent" against anti-war
protesters in the United States.
And finally, last year, two black longshoremen going to work in the
port of Sacramento were beaten, Maced and arrested by police under
the rubric of Homeland Security regulations ordained by the "war on
terror."
There's precedent for this action. In the '50s, French dockworkers
refused to load war materiel on ships headed for Indochina, and
helped to bring that colonial war to an end. At the ILWU's convention
in San Francisco in 2003, A. Q. McElrath, an octogenarian University
of Hawaii regent and former ILWU organizer from the pineapple
canneries, challenged the delegates to act for social justice,
invoking the union's slogan, "An injury to one is an injury to all."
She concluded, "The cudgel is on the ground. Will you pick it up?"
It appears that longshore workers may be doing just that on May Day
and calling on immigrant workers and others to join them.
may day protest
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., May 1, followed by a rally at noon.
WHERE: Longshore Union Hall, corner of Mason and Beach (near
Fisherman's Wharf).
WHAT: March to a rally at Justin Herman Plaza along the Embarcadero.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.maydayilwu. googlepages. com; www.ilwu.org
<http://www.ilwu.org/> ;
www.transportworker s.org <http://s.org/> or call (415) 776-8100.
Jack Heyman is a longshoreman who works on the Oakland docks.
________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:14:30 -0700
From: Deborah Berman Santana <santana@mills.edu>
Unexploded munitions cleared at Vieques
In November 2006 I spoke to the contractor who was in charge of testing
for radiation and possible DU. He claimed he hadn't found anything. This
despite the fact that the Navy admits to not finding most of the rounds it
"accidentally" shot in February 1999, and despite photos and testimony
from viequenses suggesting DU use at least since the buildup to the first
Gulf War.
Deborah
Mensaje citado por Viviane Lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>:
> Not a peep about DU, as thought it all was about "scrap iron"!
> And only 2,647 pounds out of were "cleared," ["just 775 acres of the
> 14,500-acre training range], the rest "could take 10 years"....
> ===========
> http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_vieques_041808/
> Unexploded munitions cleared at Vieques
> By Yaisha Vargas - The Associated Press
> Posted : Friday Apr 18, 2008 8:29:23 EDT
>
> VIEQUES, Puerto Rico ^× Observers winced as workers gave the signal
> Thursday to detonate a pile of old mortar shells and unexploded
> munitions on this former Navy bombing range that was once the focus
> of heated protest.
>
> ^ÓFire in the area!^Ô came the shout as the first of four controlled
> blasts shook the ground, as the Navy began its cleanup project in
> Vieques, a tiny island of 9,000 residents, ringed by beaches and
> turquoise waters east of mainland Puerto Rico.
>
> The 2,647 pounds of weaponry destroyed Thursday is a fiery reminder
> of the Naval Training Range, which was hammered for decades with live
> rounds from warships and planes, and is now scattered with piles of
> mangled metal.
>
> The Navy finally agreed to close the range in April 2003, after years
> of protests against the danger and din of the practice bombing. But
> thousands of unexploded munitions were left behind, lurking under
> tropical foliage.
>
> Now, contract workers are methodically clearing the site, overseen by
> the Environmental Protection Agency. The effort, begun in 2005, could
> take 10 years, and the Navy has set aside $200 million, officials
> said.
>
> Reporters were invited to watch the destruction Thursday.
>
> Outrage over the range began in 1999, when a Marine jet dropped two
> bombs off target, killing a local security guard and drawing the ire
> of islanders and celebrities including singer Ricky Martin, actor
> Edward James Olmos and New York politician Al Sharpton.
>
> The Navy closed the range four years later, handing it over to the
> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Islanders have since sought to make
> the area a tourist destination.
>
> In the first two years of cleanup, some 4.7 million pounds of scrap
> iron were recovered and melted down in large furnaces on the island,
> before being shipped to the U.S. mainland as scrap metal, said Chris
> Brown, a subcontractor with the environmental services firm of PIKA
> International Inc.
>
> Still, just 775 acres of the 14,500-acre training range have been
> cleared, said Christopher Penny, head of the Vieques Restoration
> Program. Two-thirds of the site remains closed to the public because
> it is still peppered with unexploded munitions.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Keboi
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2008 4:07 AM
Subject: [demilnet_Hawaii] Brown tree snake seen on Mokapu
Article URL: http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/19/news/story02.html
© 1996-2008 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin | www.starbulletin.com
Vol. 13, Issue 110 - Saturday, April 19, 2008
USDA PHOTO VIA AP / 2003 This brown tree snake was caught at Anderson Air
Force Base on Guam. Eight brown tree snakes have been found alive or dead
in Hawaii since the mid-1980s -- all in cargo from Guam.
Snake report sends hunters into the bush to avert crisis
STORY SUMMARY » | READ THE FULL STORY
State hunters were searching last night for what might be a brown tree
snake spotted this week at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.
Search crews have placed traps and canvassed the military base since
Wednesday, when a resident reported seeing a 2-foot, greenish-brown snake
at about 7:30 a.m.
The incident is renewing calls for steady federal funding to inspect
military cargo coming to Hawaii from Guam, where the brown tree snake has
decimated the bird population.
A new study estimates that Hawaii's economy could lose $2 billion if
brown tree snakes were to become established in the islands.
ALEXANDRE DA SILVA
FULL STORY »
By Alexandre Da Silva
adasilva@starbulletin.com
State search teams were hunting last night for a snake spotted early
Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe that fits the
description of the brown tree snake, which could ravage Hawaii's native
plants and animals and hurt the state's economy.
A base resident reported seeing a 2-foot, greenish-brown snake at 7:30
a.m. Wednesday. Search crews have set up traps with mice and combed the
area at night, but a snake has not been found, state Department of
Agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi said yesterday afternoon.
"It seems like a credible sighting," Saneishi said, adding that searches
would continue for at least two weeks. "She saw the tail end. The person
didn't actually see the head."
The sighting coincided with an annual Brown Treesnake Working Group
Technical Meeting in Waikiki this week that is being attended by experts
from Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and the
mainland.
Among topics discussed are military growth on Guam and the need for more
inspection and regulations of cargo planes there to prevent the spread of
brown tree snakes to Hawaii.
Eight brown tree snakes have been found alive or dead in Hawaii since the
mid-1980s -- all in cargo from Guam, according to Hawaii's Coordinating
Group on Alien Pest Species, which includes representatives from state
and federal governments and other organizations.
The group is concerned that some $6 million in federal funding that
includes money for inspection of military cargo leaving Guam continues to
be based on congressional add-ons, or earmarks, to the budget.
For example, funds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife
Services last year came only after the agency had lost five dog handlers
who conducted snake checks, Martin said.
"It is not permanent funding; it's year-to-year funding," she said. "We
need to make sure that this gets institutionalized. That's our first line
of defense."
Her concern was echoed by Domingo Cravalho Jr., Plant Quarantine
Inspection and Compliance Section chief for the state Agriculture
Department, who said Wednesday's incident "underscores the importance of
continued federal funding of snake inspection and interdiction programs
in Guam, Hawaii and throughout the Pacific."
A new study has found that Hawaii could lose $2 billion in tourist travel
if brown tree snakes were to become established in the state, an impact
much greater than the $405 million previously estimated by a University
of Hawaii study, Martin said.
"Basically, tourists would choose a different destination," Martin said
about the study's findings, which the group expects to release soon.
The brown tree snake, a native of Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand,
was introduced to Guam in the late 1940s or early 1950s, with devastating
consequences. The snakes wiped out nine of the 12 native forest birds and
two of 11 native lizards on Guam, and have contributed to the decline of
native fruit bats.
The snakes also are responsible for an average of 200 power failures per
year, and snakebites are the cause of approximately 1 in 1,200 emergency
room visits on Guam.
People should not approach a snake if they encounter one, but the state
encourages people to kill it as long as they do not put themselves at
risk.
"If not, someone can keep an eye on it and then call us," Saneishi said.
The state's pest hot line is 643-PEST.
**************---------------------------------------------------------
From: Leon Siu
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2008 8:17 AM
Subject: Call to Prayer April 30
Aloha Lynette,
Please circulate through your online groups the attachments regarding the
April 30 prayer gathering at the Lili'uokalani Statue. This is the first
real step of the "evangelical churches" (for lack of a better term) is
taking to become involved in praying for justice and reconciliation
regarding this matter of Hawaiian Restoration. Its a first step. The
education part is on-going.
We want as many people involved in the sovereignty/independence movement
to come so get this around to as many people as possible.
Mahalo nui,
Malama pono,
Leon
[ Part 2, Application/PDF 132KB. ]
[ Unable to print this part. ]
[ Part 3, Application/PDF 247KB. ]
[ Unable to print this part. ]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:37:13 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
Subject: Mind of a Locavore
The Way We Live Now
Why Bother?
That really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do
something about climate change, and it's not an easy one to answer. I
don't know about you, but for me the most upsetting moment in "An
Inconvenient Truth" came long after Al Gore scared the hell out of me,
constructing an utterly convincing case that the very survival of life on
earth as we know it is threatened by climate change. No, the really dark
moment came during the closing credits, when we are asked to . . . change
our light bulbs. That's when it got really depressing. The immense
disproportion between the magnitude of the problem Gore had described and
the puniness of what he was asking us to do about it was enough to sink
your heart.
But the drop-in-the-bucket issue is not the only problem lurking behind
the "why bother" question. Let's say I do bother, big time. I turn my
life upside-down, start biking to work, plant a big garden, turn down the
thermostat so low I need the Jimmy Carter signature cardigan, forsake the
clothes dryer for a laundry line across the yard, trade in the station
wagon for a hybrid, get off the beef, go completely local. I could
theoretically do all that, but what would be the point when I know full
well that halfway around the world there lives my evil twin, some
carbon-footprint doppelgänger in Shanghai or Chongqing who has just
bought his first car (Chinese car ownership is where ours was back in
1918), is eager to swallow every bite of meat I forswear and who's
positively itching to replace every last pound of CO2 I'm struggling no
longer to emit. So what exactly would I have to show for all my trouble?
A sense of personal virtue, you might suggest, somewhat sheepishly. But
what good is that when virtue itself is quickly becoming a term of
derision? And not just on the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal
or on the lips of the vice president, who famously dismissed energy
conservation as a "sign of personal virtue." No, even in the pages of The
New York Times and The New Yorker, it seems the epithet "virtuous," when
applied to an act of personal environmental responsibility, may be used
only ironically. Tell me: How did it come to pass that virtue - a quality
that for most of history has generally been deemed, well, a virtue -
became a mark of liberal softheadedness? How peculiar, that doing the
right thing by the environment - buying the hybrid, eating like a
locavore - should now set you up for the Ed Begley Jr. treatment.
And even if in the face of this derision I decide I am going to bother,
there arises the whole vexed question of getting it right. Is eating
local or walking to work really going to reduce my carbon footprint?
According to one analysis, if walking to work increases your appetite and
you consume more meat or milk as a result, walking might actually emit
more carbon than driving. A handful of studies have recently suggested
that in certain cases under certain conditions, produce from places as
far away as New Zealand might account for less carbon than comparable
domestic products. True, at least one of these studies was co-written by
a representative of agribusiness interests in (surprise!) New Zealand,
but even so, they make you wonder. If determining the carbon footprint of
food is really this complicated, and I've got to consider not only "food
miles" but also whether the food came by ship or truck and how lushly the
grass grows in New Zealand, then maybe on second thought I'll just buy
the imported chops at Costco, at least until the experts get their
footprints sorted out.
There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing,
but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it
will be too little too late. Climate change is upon us, and it has
arrived well ahead of schedule. Scientists' projections that seemed dire
a decade ago turn out to have been unduly optimistic: the warming and the
melting is occurring much faster than the models predicted. Now truly
terrifying feedback loops threaten to boost the rate of change
exponentially, as the shift from white ice to blue water in the Arctic
absorbs more sunlight and warming soils everywhere become more
biologically active, causing them to release their vast stores of carbon
into the air. Have you looked into the eyes of a climate scientist
recently? They look really scared.
So do you still want to talk about planting gardens?
I do.
Whatever we can do as individuals to change the way we live at this
suddenly very late date does seem utterly inadequate to the challenge.
It's hard to argue with Michael Specter, in a recent New Yorker piece on
carbon footprints, when he says: "Personal choices, no matter how
virtuous [N.B.!], cannot do enough. It will also take laws and money." So
it will. Yet it is no less accurate or hardheaded to say that laws and
money cannot do enough, either; that it will also take profound changes
in the way we live. Why? Because the climate-change crisis is at its very
bottom a crisis of lifestyle - of character, even. The Big Problem is
nothing more or less than the sum total of countless little everyday
choices, most of them made by us (consumer spending represents 70 percent
of our economy), and most of the rest of them made in the name of our
needs and desires and preferences.
For us to wait for legislation or technology to solve the problem of how
we're living our lives suggests we're not really serious about changing -
something our politicians cannot fail to notice. They will not move until
we do. Indeed, to look to leaders and experts, to laws and money and
grand schemes, to save us from our predicament represents precisely the
sort of thinking - passive, delegated, dependent for solutions on
specialists - that helped get us into this mess in the first place. It's
hard to believe that the same sort of thinking could now get us out of
it.
Thirty years ago, Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer and writer, put
forward a blunt analysis of precisely this mentality. He argued that the
environmental crisis of the 1970s - an era innocent of climate change;
what we would give to have back that environmental crisis! - was at its
heart a crisis of character and would have to be addressed first at that
level: at home, as it were. He was impatient with people who wrote checks
to environmental organizations while thoughtlessly squandering fossil
fuel in their everyday lives - the 1970s equivalent of people buying
carbon offsets to atone for their Tahoes and Durangos. Nothing was likely
to change until we healed the "split between what we think and what we
do." For Berry, the "why bother" question came down to a moral
imperative: "Once our personal connection to what is wrong becomes clear,
then we have to choose: we can go on as before, recognizing our
dishonesty and living with it the best we can, or we can begin the effort
to change the way we think and live."
For Berry, the deep problem standing behind all the other problems of
industrial civilization is "specialization," which he regards as the
"disease of the modern character." Our society assigns us a tiny number
of roles: we're producers (of one thing) at work, consumers of a great
many other things the rest of the time, and then once a year or so we
vote as citizens. Virtually all of our needs and desires we delegate to
specialists of one kind or another - our meals to agribusiness, health to
the doctor, education to the teacher, entertainment to the media, care
for the environment to the environmentalist, political action to the
politician.
As Adam Smith and many others have pointed out, this division of labor
has given us many of the blessings of civilization. Specialization is
what allows me to sit at a computer thinking about climate change. Yet
this same division of labor obscures the lines of connection - and
responsibility - linking our everyday acts to their real-world
consequences, making it easy for me to overlook the coal-fired power
plant that is lighting my screen, or the mountaintop in Kentucky that had
to be destroyed to provide the coal to that plant, or the streams running
crimson with heavy metals as a result.
Of course, what made this sort of specialization possible in the first
place was cheap energy. Cheap fossil fuel allows us to pay distant others
to process our food for us, to entertain us and to (try to) solve our
problems, with the result that there is very little we know how to
accomplish for ourselves. Think for a moment of all the things you
suddenly need to do for yourself when the power goes out - up to and
including entertaining yourself. Think, too, about how a power failure
causes your neighbors - your community - to suddenly loom so much larger
in your life. Cheap energy allowed us to leapfrog community by making it
possible to sell our specialty over great distances as well as summon
into our lives the specialties of countless distant others.
Here's the point: Cheap energy, which gives us climate change, fosters
precisely the mentality that makes dealing with climate change in our own
lives seem impossibly difficult. Specialists ourselves, we can no longer
imagine anyone but an expert, or anything but a new technology or law,
solving our problems. Al Gore asks us to change the light bulbs because
he probably can't imagine us doing anything much more challenging, like,
say, growing some portion of our own food. We can't imagine it, either,
which is probably why we prefer to cross our fingers and talk about the
promise of ethanol and nuclear power - new liquids and electrons to power
the same old cars and houses and lives.
A great many things happen when you plant a vegetable garden, some of
them directly related to climate change, others indirect but related
nevertheless. Growing food, we forget, comprises the original solar
technology: calories produced by means of photosynthesis. Years ago the
cheap-energy mind discovered that more food could be produced with less
effort by replacing sunlight with fossil-fuel fertilizers and pesticides,
with a result that the typical calorie of food energy in your diet now
requires about 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce. It's
estimated that the way we feed ourselves (or rather, allow ourselves to
be fed) accounts for about a fifth of the greenhouse gas for which each
of us is responsible.
Yet the sun still shines down on your yard, and photosynthesis still
works so abundantly that in a thoughtfully organized vegetable garden
(one planted from seed, nourished by compost from the kitchen and
involving not too many drives to the garden center), you can grow the
proverbial free lunch - CO2-free and dollar-free. This is the most-local
food you can possibly eat (not to mention the freshest, tastiest and most
nutritious), with a carbon footprint so faint that even the New Zealand
lamb council dares not challenge it. And while we're counting carbon,
consider too your compost pile, which shrinks the heap of garbage your
household needs trucked away even as it feeds your vegetables and
sequesters carbon in your soil. What else? Well, you will probably notice
that you're getting a pretty good workout there in your garden, burning
calories without having to get into the car to drive to the gym. (It is
one of the absurdities of the modern division of labor that, having
replaced physical labor with fossil fuel, we now have to burn even more
fossil fuel to keep our unemployed bodies in shape.) Also, by engaging
both body and mind, time spent in the garden is time (and energy)
subtracted from electronic forms of entertainment.
You begin to see that growing even a little of your own food is, as
Wendell Berry pointed out 30 years ago, one of those solutions that,
instead of begetting a new set of problems - the way "solutions" like
ethanol or nuclear power inevitably do - actually beget other solutions,
and not only of the kind that save carbon. Still more valuable are the
habits of mind that growing a little of your own food can yield. You
quickly learn that you need not be dependent on specialists to provide
for yourself - that your body is still good for something and may
actually be enlisted in its own support. If the experts are right, if
both oil and time are running out, these are skills and habits of mind
we're all very soon going to need. We may also need the food. Could
gardens provide it? Well, during World War II, victory gardens supplied
as much as 40 percent of the produce Americans ate.
But there are sweeter reasons to plant that garden, to bother. At least
in this one corner of your yard and life, you will have begun to heal the
split between what you think and what you do, to commingle your
identities as consumer and producer and citizen. Chances are, your garden
will re-engage you with your neighbors, for you will have produce to give
away and the need to borrow their tools. You will have reduced the power
of the cheap-energy mind by personally overcoming its most debilitating
weakness: its helplessness and the fact that it can't do much of anything
that doesn't involve division or subtraction. The garden's season-long
transit from seed to ripe fruit - will you get a load of that zucchini?!
- suggests that the operations of addition and multiplication still
obtain, that the abundance of nature is not exhausted. The single
greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet
need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people
still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find
ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.
Michael Pollan, a contributing writer for the magazine, is the author,
most recently, of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~-------------------------
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:48:04 -0700
From: Free Hawai`i <freehawaii@earthlink.net>
Stealing Your Future On "Voices Of Truth -
One-On-One With Hawai`i's Future"
Aloha `aina,
Mahalo nui loa to all who took time over the past few weeks to protest
wrongdoings of both the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Superferry.
You told us you contacted the legislature to express your outrage and
it's paid off big time.
Auditor Marion Higa released a report on Thursday saying the state may
have compromised its environmental policy under pressure from Hawai`i
Superferry executives concerned about financing for the interisland ferry
project.
The auditor found an internal deadline by the Superferry for financing
for ship construction "drove the process" and led the state Department of
Transportation to bypass an environmental review.
Big surprise, huh?
Who did your elected representatives put first? People or profits?
Whose future did they consider the most important - yours or their own?
Consider this - people who love their land don't do these kinds of
things. People who love only money do.
A Free Hawai`i based on Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiian) values would not
allow this to occur.
Citizens of a Free Hawai`i know the importance of putting the `aina
(land) first.
So keep the pressure up. The Office Of Hawaiian Affairs is next and
they're hiding plenty.
And be sure to check out Free Hawai`i TV this week for all the late
breaking news.
If you support our issues on the Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network,
please email this to a friend and see below how you can help us continue
our work.
Want to know more how you can kokua a Free Hawai`i?
Well, we've got three superb role models for you. See for yourself this
week right here on Voices Of Truth - One-On-One With Hawai`i's Future.
MONDAY, April 21st At 7:00 PM & FRIDAY, April 25th At 5:30 PM - Hawai`i
Island - Na Leo, Channel 53
TUESDAY, April 22nd At 6:30 PM & WEDNESDAY, April 23rd At 6:30 AM - Maui
- Akaku, Channel 53
"Hale Halawai - Monument To Activists - A Visit With Soli Papakihei
Niheu"
People were concerned about longtime Hawaiian political activist Soli
Papakihei Niheu.
In poor health and living in an old one-room structure in Waimea, his
friends knew he needed something better.
So they decided to act. They collected contributions, both money and
materials, and soon had enough resources to build him a new house.
That's when Soli stepped forward to let them know he didn't want a house.
Instead he wanted the one thing missing in Hawai`i that's common
throughout most other islands in the Pacific - a hale halawai.
Similar to the Maori marae in Aotearoa, (New Zealand,) hale halawai is a
formal meeting place to receive and host visitors from far and wide,
through Hawaiian protocol and hospitality.
Soli saw his hale halawai as a place to host sovereignty movement
activists from all over Te Moana Nui - The Polynesian Triangle.
Because Soli had dedicated his life to serving others, they knew they now
had to do the same thing for him.
So they built it for him.
In our moving and highly inspirational visit with Soli, you'll hear him
tell his story and see the pictures for yourself of how his hale halawai
became reality. Surviving two earthquakes and many other challenges, Soli
persevered in his vision of having both a monument to his heroes, the
early pioneers of the sovereignty movement, as well as a place for today
to teach the young.
THURSDAY, April 24th At 8:30 PM & FRIDAY, April 25th At 8:30 AM - Kaua`i
- Ho`ike, Channel 52
"Modern Konohiki - A Visit With Ke`eaumoku Kapu"
"What is the destiny in your life?
"What is the history of this place and is there a place suitable for me?"
These are questions that drive the spirit of Ke`eaumoku Kapu, modern day
warrior and protector of the `aina.
A former construction worker building houses and highways, Ke`eaumoku's
first awakening came during the 1993 Onipa`a March in Honolulu.
The second occurred when he found himself actually making concrete parts
for the H-3 freeway, which eventually caused the desecration of ancient
sites in Halawa Valley on O`ahu.
Needing to earn money to feed his family, he kept asking himself, "Is
what I'm doing pono, is it just? Is the knowledge I'm acquiring through
the corporate system legitimate, based on my life as an island person and
Kanaka Maoli?"
Soon thereafter he walked in, quit his job and dedicated the rest of his
life to answering the question, "Is there a way to create just with the
unjust?"
Today he and his wife run no less than five associations dedicated to
serving those threatened with losing their family land to corporate
development.
Don't miss Ke`eaumoku as he leads us through his own awakening that took
him from someone whose life was run by US corporations to the warrior he
is today who sits on the County of Maui Cultural Resources Commission and
the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council. See for yourself how
he realized the "contemporary management system has nothing to do with
our upbringing as Kanaka Maoli," and the words he lives by - "we must do
whatever we can because our land is at stake."
SATURDAY, April 26th At 8:00 PM - O`ahu - `Olelo, Channel 53
"Carrier Of The Culture - A Visit With Sabra Kauka"
Since Sabra lasted visited us on Voices Of Truth, she hasn't stopped for
a minute, doing what she does best - preserving the culture.
She shares with us in telling and pictures about her participation in the
Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. as the leader of the
Hawaiian weavers delegation for Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket
Traditions.
Then Sabra gives us a tantalizing review and much background information
on the phenomenal Ho`okahi Kapa - the contemporary kapa exhibit at Bishop
Museum with more incredible photos.
And finally if all that isn't enough, she goes on to describe what very
few have ever gotten to see firsthand on her own island - Nu`alolo Kai,
an ancient Kaua`i valley left untouched for hundreds of years the way the
people of old left it.
Don't miss this incredible segment as Sabra describes her involvement in
the caretaking of this amazing site on the Na Pali Coast. The entire show
is filled with stories and photos you'll long remember of all three
events.
Voices Of Truth interviews those creating a better future for Hawai`i to
discover what made them go from armchair observers to active participants
in the hopes of inspiring viewers to do the same.
Please consider a donation today to help further our work. Every single
penny counts.
You may donate via PayPal at VoicesOfTruthTV.com or by mail -
The Koani Foundation
PO Box 1878
Lihu`e, Kaua`i 96766
If you missed a show, want you see your favorites again or you don't live
in Hawai`i, here's how to view our shows anytime - visit
VoicesOfTruthTV.com and simply click on the episodes you wish to view.
And for news on issues that affect you, watch FreeHawaiiTV.com.
It's all part of the Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network.
Ho`oku`oko`a,
`Ehu Kekahu Cardwell
The Koani Foundation
Visit FreeHawaii.Info
Watch FreeHawaiiTV.com
"Voices Of Truth" online - VoicesOfTruthTV.com
The Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network __._,_.___ [stime=1208718298]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:55:16 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
Subject: Hawaii's Future Under Akaka-Tribe Sovereignty?
"We didn't disenroll anybody. We just corrected our paperwork," insisted
Tribal Council Member Harold Hammond, referring to the 600 people who are
no longer members.
"Last year, the council of the Elem Pomo tribe, on Clear Lake in Lake
County, threw out the last speaker of its 8,000-year-old language, along
with 24 members of her family. Loretta Kelsey, the "language keeper," as
such last speakers are known in Indian culture, had lived on the rancheria
for most of her 59 years, and her father was once leader of the tribe. "
Tribes toss out members in high-stakes quarrel
Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Cathy Corey, rejected by the Picayune Chukchansis, says s... The
Chukchansi casino has reeled in millions of dollars f... Mary Martinez,
rejected by the Picayune Chukchansi tribe,... Longest Walk 2 participants
gather in February in Fresno,...
(04-19) 18:42 PDT Coarsegold, Madera County -- Mary Martinez sat on the
grinding rocks of her ancestors - giant boulders with holes used for
thousands of years to crush acorns.
"This is where my grandmother used to sit, pounding acorns to make flour
in the old ways," she said, closing her eyes to let the memories seep in.
"I ground the flour, too, like my grandmother's mother and her mother
before her.
"It's what you do as an Indian. I am a Chukchansi Indian," she said.
She is - and she isn't.
The 77-year-old Martinez has been kicked out of the Picayune Chukchansi
tribe in the tiny Madera County town of Coarsegold - the tribe where she
was vice chairwoman just two years ago, the tribe that is full of her
cousins.
The tribal council threw her out last year, just as it has tossed out
almost half its membership that in 2000 was 1,500 strong. It's the
biggest disenrollment of any tribe in California, observers say.
The council explains it as a readjustment of records to more accurately
reflect who deserves to be a Picayune Chukchansi and an official member
of the tribe.
"Each tribe, under sovereignty, has the right to set its own membership,
and that may be difficult at times, but it is necessary," said Chanel
Wright, a spokeswoman for the tribe. "It's about doing what's best for
the tribe."
But Martinez and the 600 other outcasts say it's all about greed. They
blame the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, a gigantic building of neon,
slot machines and card tables that for five years has reeled in millions
of dollars for those lucky enough to call themselves tribal members.
"They kicked me to the curb so they could keep more money for
themselves," Martinez said, tearing up as she visited the historic
grinding rock, used by local Indians for millennia, near the tribe's
rancheria. "Our ancestors would roll over in their graves if they knew."
Huge division among Indians
The same story is happening all over California - and the nation - in
what some experts are calling the most divisive quarrel among Indians in
more than half a century.
From San Diego to Clear Lake, 57 tribes are cashing in on the annual $7.7
billion California Indian gambling boom, and some are throwing out many
of their own members - all, critics say, so those remaining can pocket
more cash. In many cases, that amounts to monthly allowances of up to
$30,000 per person.
The numbers of those receiving shares were relatively small to begin with
- only an estimated 39,000 of the 350,000 American Indians in this state,
according to studies by the state attorney general, the U.S. Census
Bureau and others.
Because of the tribes' sovereign status, there is little outside
oversight of how the money is divvied up and used. Under Proposition 1A,
passed by voters in 2000, casino tribes have to contribute to a statewide
pot that allocates individual grants of $1.1 million to each of the
state's 51 other tribes that do no gambling. But they are not required to
give anything for the rest of California's Indian population that is not
enrolled in tribes - roughly 89 percent.
"This is not the Indian way. It is tearing families apart, stomping out
heritage all over the state," said Laura Wass, who as head of the
American Indian Legacy Center in Fresno is the state's foremost advocate
for disenrolled Indians.
Until about 40 years ago, when the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs
required tribes to write constitutions to establish sovereign status,
Indians regarded each other as a common people who sometimes quarreled -
but generally stuck together, Wass said.
"Big money has ruined that," she said.
Because of the tribes' "sovereign nations" status, no private
organization or governmental agency keeps count of tribe disenrollments.
But at least 14 tribes have caused enough protests by ejecting members
that activists say they have been able to tally 5,000 people disenrolled
in the past eight years.
Many cases of disenrollment
At the Redding Rancheria, for example, the 76-member Foreman family was
ejected in 2004 after the tribal council decided they were not descended
from one of the tribe's founders, as had been believed for decades.
Family members dug up the body of the founder, Virginia Timmons, and did
DNA tests to prove the lineal connection - but the council refused to
accept the finding.
Last year, the council of the Elem Pomo tribe, on Clear Lake in Lake
County, threw out the last speaker of its 8,000-year-old language, along
with 24 members of her family. Loretta Kelsey, the "language keeper," as
such last speakers are known in Indian culture, had lived on the
rancheria for most of her 59 years, and her father was once leader of the
tribe.
Down near San Diego, the ax even fell on a cousin of Mark Macarro - the
chairman of Southern California's Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians who
famously, and successfully, pleaded in TV ads for passage of several
Indian gambling ballot initiatives. The cousin was barred from rejoining
the tribe after living off the reservation for several years. At least
200 others have been disenrolled.
More examples exist across the United States, most notably in Oklahoma,
where the Cherokee Nation expelled 2,800 of its 200,000 members last year
because its leaders decided it would no longer recognize the Indian
heritage of its "Freedmen" - descendants of slaves once owned by the
tribe.
But the disenrollment issue is considered by observers to be most acute
in California, where Indian casinos have made the state the biggest
gambling region in the nation, surpassing Las Vegas.
Little recourse outside tribe
For those seeking relief, there is little recourse. Because of tribal
sovereignty, the only place disenrolled members can appeal is to the very
tribal council that threw them out.
Federal, state and local non-Indian officials all refuse to touch the
issue, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's Santa Clara Pueblo vs. Martinez
decision of 1978, which held that enrollment issues are an Indian-only
matter immune from outside interference.
Even the Bureau of Indian Affairs, charged with overseeing American
Indian policy, won't weigh in.
"We receive calls from people who aren't happy with enrollment issues,
but there is nothing we can do except refer them back to their respective
tribes," said Dale Risling, superintendent of the BIA Pacific Region.
Tribal leaders contend that the anger over cash and disenrollments is
just a growing pain of an industry that has exploded eightfold from $1
billion in 2000, when Prop. 1A allowed Vegas-style gambling on Indian
lands. But the anger shows no sign of abating anytime soon.
"The last time there was this much dissension ... was during the 1950s
termination period," said Bob Sanderson, interim director of the Sequoyah
Research Center at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, the
nation's foremost study institute of Indian culture. He was referring to
federal actions that dissolved more than 200 tribes nationally in a
still-controversial attempt to force assimilation into the general
population.
"Some of these enrollment concerns revolve around changes in the tribes
culturally, as well as the success of the casinos," Sanderson said.
26% of Indians in poverty
Critics angrily say the disenrollment fight - and restricting casino cash
benefits to tribal members - shows the lies behind claims that approving
Indian gambling would "help the Native Americans uplift our people," as
one TV ad put it.
"When your own people can steal your birthright away from you, it hurts,"
said Cathy Corey, who was disenrolled, along with Martinez, from the
Picayune Chukchansi tribe. "It's obscene that a very few are getting so
rich, and there is so much poverty in Indian country."
About 26 percent of Indians in California live in poverty - more than
double the statewide average, according to labor, government and academic
experts who study Indian culture. The median Indian family income in
California is $38,000 - 58 percent that of the average white family.
Corey said she is a direct descendant of Hawa, the last true chief of the
Picayune Chukchansi tribe; during her disenrollment hearing, she propped
next to her an iconic photo taken of him in 1901 at 101 years old. As
soon as she was ousted, Corey's daughter lost tribal college funding of
$2,000 per semester.
Martinez said that when she was disenrolled, she was evicted from her
$330-monthly tribal housing, and her husband was fired from the
Coarsegold casino. They now pay $900 a month for a smaller apartment, and
her husband is still unemployed.
"When I was vice chairwoman, we had such plans for the casino money,"
Martinez said. "We were going to build a school, give health care to all
our people, start new businesses. But now thinking about all that makes
me sick."
Meanwhile, the newly rich Picayune Chukchansi tribe has paid $16 million
to put its name on the minor-league baseball stadium in nearby Fresno,
donated $750,000 to the Yosemite Unified School District, and bought four
fire and police vehicles for Madera County.
Tribal leaders say the expenditures were to nurture good relations at a
time when its casino is changing the area. As for the criticism that they
are being selfish, they say the opposite is true - that they are
benefiting not just their own people, but also the surrounding community.
Indeed, Madera County officials estimate that, since opening in 2003, the
300,000-square-foot casino and its 192-room hotel have created 1,400 jobs
and added $70 million to the local economy in its first year alone.
"We didn't disenroll anybody. We just corrected our paperwork," insisted
Tribal Council Member Harold Hammond, referring to the 600 people who are
no longer members.
The latest disenrollment fight, like others in the state, revolves around
who can most claim relatives who were at the rancheria during key times
of the tribe's history, as interpreted by the council in control.
Councils are free to interpret tribal laws as they wish in setting
membership rules.
Tribe is 'following our laws'
Nobody is happy about the latest disenrollments, said tribal Chairman
Morris Reid.
"There are two sides to a story like that," he said. "It affects us in a
way that is bad, and we are not for that. But we are for following our
laws."
He and the rest of the council refused to discuss individual
disenrollment cases or the rules, citing "sovereign nation" privilege.
They also declined, under the same privilege, to say how much money the
casino brings in.
But council members did say they plan to give health and education
benefits to all tribal members, and probably per-capita checks, too.
Disenrolled members estimate the gambling palace earns more than $50
million a year.
"I will just say that our future looks very bright," Reid said.
The Picayune Chukchansi council's stance is echoed from San Diego to
Sonoma, where many tribes have established health clinics and give out
thousands of dollars each month to members.
Payouts range from $15,000 a month and a $250,000 housing allowance to
members of the Table Mountain tribe near Fresno to $30,000 a month to
members of the Pechanga tribe. Most gambling tribes pay full costs for
their children to attend college, a key service for a historically
undereducated ethnic group.
Indian tribes also have spent almost $300 million on election campaigns
since 2000, according to estimates by Stand Up California, a tribal
gambling watchdog group, and California Common Cause. More than $70
million of that promoted this winter's passage of Props. 94, 95, 96 and
97, which expanded slot machine capacities of four Southern California
tribes.
Complaints called overblown
Carole Goldberg, chair of the UCLA Native Nations Law & Policy Center,
called complaints over disenrollment overblown.
"Some of the human drama is being amplified," she said. "The tribes
concede their sovereign authority if they talk to the non-Indian world,
so they don't say much, which just leaves opponents to do much of the
talking.
"But the reality is that the new money has made a difference in
immeasurable ways."
The issue has become so incendiary among Indian people, however, that it
is one of the main conversational topics of the biggest native cultural
event in a generation, the Longest Walk 2, a re-creation of the historic
1978 walk across the United States to highlight Indian concerns.
Once again, several hundred Indians are walking across the country,
planning to end up in Washington, D.C., in July - and though their themes
are environmental healing and ethnic harmony, they have reluctantly also
had to address disenrollments at almost every stop.
"We used to point our fingers at the white man, but our fingers are
pointed back at us now," Six Bears, a 59-year-old Mono Indian, said as he
helped lead prayers for the walk in Fresno in February.
"This is a shame upon all of us."
E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/20/MNJNVJC72.DTL
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~-------------------
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:02:37 -0400
From: Mairead Byrne <mbyrne@RISD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Aime Cesaire, voice of French Black pride, dies
This notice of his death brings him alive again. Mairead
>>> amy king <amyhappens@yahoo.com> 04/17/08 11:33 AM >>>
Thu 17 Apr 2008, 13:18 GMT
By Astrid Wendlandt
PARIS (Reuters) - French Caribbean poet Aime Cesaire,founding father of
the "negritude" movement that celebrated blackconsciousness, died in his
native Martinique, France'sMinistry of Culture said on Thursday.
Cesaire, 94, who was mayor of the island's main city Fort-de-France for
morethan half a century, was admitted to hospital last week suffering from
heartand other problems.
His writings offered insight into how France imposedits culture on its
citizens of different origins in the early part of the 20thCentury.
The theme still resonates in French politics today, as thecountry
continues to struggle to integrate many of its residents of African
andNorth African origin.
In 2005, Cesaire refused to meet then French InteriorMinister Nicolas
Sarkozy (now French president) over concerns that Sarkozy'sconservative
UMP party had pushed for a law which proposed to recognise thepositive
legacy of French colonial rule. The law was eventually repealed.
Cesaire and African intellectual Leopold Senghor -- laterpresident of
Senegal-- founded "The Black Student" in 1934, a journal that
encouragedpeople to develop black identity.
ANTI-COLONIAL VOICE IN THE 1960s
The Caribbean writer rose to fame with his "Notebook ofa Return to the
Native Land", written inthe late 1930s, in which he says "my negritude is
neither tower norcathedral, it plunges into the red flesh of the soil."
His poems expressed the degradation of black people in the Caribbean and
describe the rediscovery of an Africansense of self. In his "Discourse on
Colonialism", first published in1950, Cesaire compared the relationship
between the coloniser and colonisedwith the Nazis and their victims.
He was a mentor to fellow Martinican author Frantz Fanon,and their
anti-colonial writings were a major influence in the headyintellectual
climate of the 1960s and 1970s in France.
The negritude movement was a counterpart to the Black Pridemovement in the
United States,though it has been criticised for not being radical enough.
Cesaire was also a friend of the French surrealist poetAndre Breton who
had encouraged him to become a major voice of Surrealism.
Cesaire's anti-colonial rhetoric did not prevent him from havinga
long-lasting political career.
After becoming mayor of Fort-de-France in 1945 at the age of 32, hewas
elected deputy of parliament a year later, a post he held until the
early1990s.
A graduate of the prestigious French Ecole NormaleSuperieure -- unusual
for a black Martinican in the 1930s -- he remained amember of the French
communist party until the Soviet Hungarian repression of1956.
Cesaire was born in 1913 in the small town of Basse-Pointe in
Martinique.He married Suzanne Roussi in 1937, a gifted writer in her own
right, with whomhe had six children.
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN745797.html
____________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:23:00 -1000
From: Tane . <Tane_1@msn.com>
Hawaii's Future Under Akaka-Tribe Sovereignty? - comment
This was one off my arguments related to the Akaka Bill. Once they set
up the reorganization of the Hawaiian tribe, the blood quantum will play
a big part in its structure and many Hawaiians will automatically be
disenfranchised. The other point is due to Congress' plenary authority;
they can un-recognize a tribe anytime they wish as they have done in the
past. If Hawaiians can't understand these two points; they deserve to
lose their tribal status the Akaka Bill affords and the governing entity
OHA is planning to establish to supplant the Hawaiian Kingdom. Either
way, all Hawaii Nationals will lose out in this maneuver. It is best not
to have either the Akaka Bill nor their tribal governing entity but stick
to the still existing Hawaiian Kingdom whereby all Hawaii Nationals are
protected.
Tane
________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:00:17 -0400
From: Elizabeth Jutras <lizziejutras@gmail.com>
Subject: Crazy Dictionary from Melyssa
A clever idea from Melyssa ..... add something.... it could make for an
interesting compilation!!!
Why Not?
------
Everyone is always saying that they should make a dictionary of words
that they use which aren't in the actual dictionary....... so, this is
your chance...
If you have a word that you or a friends use, then copy... paste, and add
it to this list with your initials. Forward this to everyone, including
me. There are no consequences if you don't but, hey, why wouldn't
you?Please only add one word,so that everyone has a chance. Thanks for
joining in the adventure!
>1)megaly(meg-ah-lee):very, huge, alot~~~~~MM
>2)Gloopy schmoopy( adj) acting as if in a funk: in the dumps EJ
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG>
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2008 5:41 PM
Subject: The U.S. Nears The Limits Of Its Water Supplies
> The U.S. Nears The Limits Of Its Water Supplies
> By Shiney Varghese
> Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
> Alternet
> Posted April 8, 2008.
> http://www.alternet.org/water/81301/
>
> I am amazed: since last summer, almost every day we see
> at least one news story on another water crisis in the
> U.S. The water crisis is no longer something that we
> know about as affecting developing countries or their
> poor in particular. It is right here in our own
> backyard. Today, in many parts of the U.S. we are
> nearing the limits of our water supplies. And that is
> getting our attention. The writing has been on the wall
> for some time. The private sector has been showing much
> interest in water as a source of profit, and water
> privatization has been an issue in many parts of the
> country.
>
> The failure in public water systems has indeed been a
> contributing factor for this interest. In many cities,
> consumers have been organizing and opposing the
> privatization of water utilities, because they have been
> concerned about affordability or deterioration in the
> quality of service. Environmental organizations and
> consumer activists have also been concerned about the
> socio-economic, health and environmental implications of
> ever increasing bottled water use. But for most of us
> living in the U.S., water is something we take for
> granted, available when you turn your tap on -- to brush
> your teeth, to take a shower, to wash your car, to water
> your lawn, and if you have your own swimming pool then,
> to fill that as well.
>
> So it was with alarm that many of us read the story of
> Orme, a small town tucked away in the mountains of
> southern Tennessee that has become a recent symbol of
> the drought in the southeast. Orme has had to literally
> ration its water use, by collecting water for a few
> hours every day -- an everyday experience in most
> developing countries, but unusual for the U.S. This is
> an extreme experience from the southeast region that has
> been under a year long dry spell. In fact, the region's
> dry spell resulted in the city of Atlanta setting severe
> water use restrictions and three states, Georgia,
> Florida and Alabama, going to court over a water
> allocation dispute (settled in favor of Florida and
> Alabama early last month).
>
> Early this year we also heard that drought in the region
> could force nuclear reactor shut-downs. Nuclear reactors
> need billions of gallons of cooling water daily to
> operate, and in many of the lakes and rivers water
> levels are getting close to the limit set by the Nuclear
> Regulatory Commission. It is possible in the coming
> months that we may see water levels decrease below the
> intake pipes, or that shallow water could become warmer
> and unusable as a coolant. While this may not cause
> blackouts, this can result in increased costs for energy
> as utilities have to buy from other sources.
>
> Water concerns are not restricted to the southeast
> region -- similar issues have also been popping up in
> other parts of the United States. In the Midwest,
> concerns abound as to whether the newly emerging biofuel
> industry is putting undue pressure on the region's
> groundwater resources. The issue came into focus for the
> first time in the late summer of 2006 in Granite Falls,
> MN where an ethanol plant in its first year of operation
> depleted the groundwater so much that it had to begin
> pumping water from the Minnesota River.
>
> In early February, it was reported that there is a 50
> percent chance Lake Mead (on the Arizona/Nevada border),
> will be dry by 2021 if climate change continues as
> expected and future water use is not limited. Along with
> Lake Powell in Utah, Lake Mead helps provide water for
> more than 25 million people, and is a key source of
> water in the southwestern U.S. On the west coast, where
> water is a precious resource, water disputes abound:
> between farmers who want water for agriculture,
> environmentalists who want to conserve water for
> ecosystems, and cities who want to meet ever-growing
> urban water needs. Last summer, in a landmark decision,
> a federal judge ordered state and federal water project
> managers to reduce the amount of water pumped from the
> Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the
> threatened delta smelt from extinction. Along with
> excessive rains in other regions and increased incidence
> of hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, these changes are a
> constant reminder of an increasingly evident reality:
> climate change.
>
> In fact, in early February, Nature reported that, "In
> the western US, where water is perhaps the most precious
> natural resource, anthropogenic global warming is
> responsible for more than half of the well-documented
> changes to the hydrological cycle from 1950 to 1999.
> Over the last half of the twentieth century, the
> region's mountains received less winter snow and more
> rain, with snow melting earlier, causing rivers to flow
> more strongly in the spring and more weakly in the
> summer."
>
> Unlike Katrina's images that are as haunting as that of
> a severe sub Saharan drought, the images of the current
> North American drought are no more than a mild
> distraction for most Americans (though not for those who
> live in Orne). Yet there is no reason to be complacent.
> We are close to the limits of our water supplies. It is
> time for us to start thinking of this nation's
> susceptibility to these changes and disruptions and how
> to minimize our vulnerability to them. Barely three
> years ago in the wake of hurricane Katrina IATP's Mark
> Muller wrote: "The storm exposed some real vulnerability
> in the current agriculture system. As we recover from
> the tragedy of Katrina, we have an opportunity to
> rebuild and rethink how to strengthen agriculture,
> regional economies and the transportation and production
> infrastructure. He identified 10 areas of vulnerability
> exposed by Katrina, including energy, fertilizer,
> transportation markets for crops less dependent on
> inputs, CAFO regulation, on-farm water storage, valuing
> the commons and climate change."
>
> I find these areas of vulnerability particularly
> relevant when it comes to the current water crisis. Like
> Katrina, this crisis gives us yet another opportunity to
> rethink and challenge issues that we need to raise: land
> use planning that allows unfettered development, energy
> production that is water intensive, and agricultural
> water use that is inefficient from a hydrological
> perspective. So far we have assumed that we can
> undertake any development we want, wherever we want, or
> we could grow whatever we want, however we want, and
> that water will always be available to support that
> growth. In the process we are draining our aquifers,
> polluting our rivers, tampering with ecosystems and
> destroying the diversity of life -- as if nature is ours
> to be manipulated to suit our wants. It is time to
> change some of our practices.
>
> For more than a century, the federal government has
> spent billions of dollars, building our dams,
> reservoirs, aqueducts and pipelines. Ironically, in the
> same way that extracting/ transporting and processing
> water consumes large amounts of energy, the operation of
> power plants consume large amounts of water.
>
> Thermal energy is one of the largest water users in the
> United States. However, irrigated agriculture accounts
> for 80 percent of water consumed in the U.S. This high
> percentage is partially because of low water use-
> efficiency (the portion of water actually used by
> irrigated agriculture relative to the volume of water
> withdrawn). For the western United States, agricultural
> farms are the single largest water user, half of which
> is used by the largest 10 percent of the farms. High
> levels of irrigation subsidies, combined with archaic
> water laws make water use in the western U.S. highly
> wasteful and inefficient. But there is room for
> improvement in agricultural water use in almost all
> parts of the U.S. Water use should be such that for a
> given locale, appropriate incentives are put in place to
> ensure that water withdrawals do not exceed the recharge
> rate; that water conservation techniques (such as rain
> water harvesting) are central to land use planning; that
> improved irrigation efficiency and better nutrient
> management (to reduce non-point water pollution from
> farm run-offs) are rewarded; and that growing water-
> intensive crops in water scarce regions discouraged.
>
> Legal judgments, such the recent case involving the
> Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, are an attempt to
> reverse earlier actions by state and federal water
> managers that have damaged the water system. But much
> more is needed. As Peter Gleick of the California based
> Pacific Institute points out in a recent article: "While
> predictions of economic disaster arising from the Delta
> decision may come true, they don't have to. But it will
> take a re-evaluation of our ideas about water-use and
> politi- cal courage by the governor, Legislature and
> water users to have open and honest discussions about
> how to redesign our water system so that it is smart,
> efficient and sustainable."
>
> This is true for the nation as a whole: here in this
> land of plenty, we need to rethink our policies
> regarding urban development, energy production, and most
> importantly our agriculture and food systems, in order
> to avert an environmental crisis that many countries are
> already in the grip of.
>
> Shiney Varghese is a Senior Policy Analyst at the
> Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
> ___________________________________________________________
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:02:47 -0400
From: Clarence Ching <kauila3339@gmail.com>
Subject: French Polynesia - Another President sworn in!
Updated Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:19am AEST
More French Polynesia Stories:
* Another new President for French Polynesia
* French Polynesian assembly to debate no-confidence vote
* Plan to boost pearl industry in French Polynesia
French Polynesia has yet another new President. Gaston Tong Sang was
sworn in on Wednesday morning, less than 24 hours after the territorial
assembly passed a no-confidence motion. That vote brought down the
coalition government of anti-independence leader Gaston Flosse who won
the presidency in February due to an unexpected alliance with Oscar
Temaru's pro-independence party. Political parties are now holding talks
to decide if they will participate in Mr Tong Sang's government, which
must be sworn within four days.
Presenter: Sandrine Ducrot
Speakers: Gaston Tong Sang, French Polynesia's new President; Semir Al
Wardi, political analyst at the French Polynesia's University.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mahealani Wendt
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 9:30 AM
Subject: Keaukaha Homestead Noise Pollution Issue
HONOLULU ADVERTISER
Local News
Posted on: Sunday, April 20, 2008
Hilo airport neighbors seek peace
Hilo homesteaders want end to law that lets Aloha have noisier jet
engines
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i - With the end of Aloha Airlines passenger service and the
expected sale of its cargo service, Hawaiian homesteaders who live
alongside Hilo airport are renewing their call for an end to a special
federal exemption that allows Aloha to use jet engines that are noisier
than the engines allowed at Mainland airports.
Homesteaders, including some who live just a few hundred yards from the
Hilo runway, say they have been waiting years for noise mitigation and
noise monitoring, and they believe it is time for the state and federal
government to solve the problem.
"The purpose and the reasons to keep it are not there anymore, so they
just have to amend the law," said Hans Mortensen, environmental co-chair
for the Keaukaha Community Association. "Our congressional leaders should
think more about the health and safety of our people. They really wanted
to help the businesses, which is OK, but what about us? What about the
people?"
Gov. Linda Lingle and Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairman Micah Kane in
2006 asked Hawai'i's congressional delegation to terminate the exemption
that allowed Aloha to use the louder Stage 2 jet engines in Hawai'i, but
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye refused.
It was Inouye, now chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee with
oversight of aviation, who obtained the 1990 exemption to allow the
interisland airlines to use the louder engines.
Since Aloha has filed for bankruptcy, closed its passenger service and
put its cargo and service businesses up for sale, "we understand it's
going to be a matter of what the judge does, whether it's a new carrier
that buys it, or somebody comes in," said Inouye chief of staff Jennifer
Sabas.
"We clearly understand the community's concerns, and will continue to
follow it as the bankruptcy court makes its decision."
She added: "We would hope that whoever the new investor is, or the new
buyer is, would either come in with a new operation, and at that point
the stage 2 exemption wouldn't apply, or with the new investor they would
come in and purchase a new fleet or retro out the stage 2, and then
replace them with stage 3 (quieter engines)," she said.
airport expansion
The airport and the Keaukaha community on abutting Hawaiian Home lands
have been uncomfortable neighbors for many decades.
The subdivision was created in 1924, with about 240 lots distributed to
the original homesteaders by 1929. Construction on the small forerunner
of today's Hilo airport began in 1925, with the facility dedicated in
1928.
In the years that followed, the territory and state took control of
additional chunks of Hawaiian homelands to expand the airport, wiping out
almost 300 homestead lots and relocating families as the airport grew to
about 1,250 acres with two runways.
Malani Alameda, 30, recalls stories his grandfather told him about his
great-grandmother, who successfully fought government efforts to move
from her home on Lyman Avenue to make way for expanded airport
operations.
Today, Alameda lives in a home he built about 300 yards from the runway.
He can look out his windows and see departing jets at tree-top level, and
the noise is deafening.
Alameda's wife baby-sits at the house, and the small children she watches
sometimes panic and run for cover when the loudest jets arrive and
depart, he said. The planes cause the house to vibrate, cause the
television to flicker, and Alameda said he is worried when the noise from
the planes jolts his young son awake, over and over.
"I'm looking to have more kids, and I hope they won't have to go through
what my son went through," he said. Asked why he chose to live in noisy
Keaukaha, Alameda said he wants to raise his children in the close-knit
Hawaiian community where he grew up. There is nothing like it anywhere
else, he said.
Alameda and Mortensen said they are sorry for the jobs lost when Aloha
ended its passenger service on March 31, but said there has been a vast
improvement in the noise levels in Keaukaha since then. The loudest
remaining planes are Aloha's cargo flights, which continue to use the
stage 2 engines under the federal exemption.
"For us in our community, this is the opportunity for one of the chapters
to be closed, and we need to take advantage of it now," Mortensen said.
"Since the airline has gone out of business, there isn't any need for
that (exemption), and so they need to amend the law."
Aloha Airlines said in a statement Friday that it is aware of the
community concerns about noise, and "we have taken steps to minimize the
noise impact by altering landing patterns and introducing aircraft fitted
with hush kits."
"At the same time, however, we have been unable to find another aircraft
type that is as well suited to the needs of the market, particularly in
the area of air cargo capacity," the company said in its statement.
"Without this aircraft, Aloha would not have been able to provide the
high-quality air cargo service that the community requires to move its
fresh produce to world markets."
airline sale issue
David Frankel, a lawyer for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., has been
representing the community association as it tries to get relief from
airport noise. He said potential buyers in the bankruptcy auction of
Aloha's cargo business in San Francisco tomorrow should be put on notice
that the federal noise exemption won't continue.
"If the companies that are bidding for the cargo business understand that
the stage 2 exemption is not going to continue, then they will bid less
money for the cargo services," he said. Frankel argued the only entities
benefiting from the continued exemption would be Aloha's creditors, which
would receive more money from the sale of the cargo business.
Conversely, if the new owners convert the cargo fleet to stage 3 aircraft
as Hawaiian Airlines converted its interisland fleet years ago, then the
new planes will be more fuel efficient and more economical to operate in
an era of rapidly rising jet-fuel costs, Frankel said.
Frankel said Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. lawyers have been researching
the possibility that claims can be made that the state is breaching its
duties under the Hawaiian Home Lands trust by letting airport noise
devalue trust lands.
Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said administration senior policy adviser
Linda Smith has been meeting with community representatives on the issue,
"and we are aware of the situation and the residents' concerns about the
cargo planes, including the timing of the flights," some of which are
late at night or early in the morning.
"I think we'll have to wait until the bid opens for the cargo operations
to see what is submitted, and then we'll be able to address it from
there."
Pang said he believes the Lingle administration's position is still that
the exemption should be repealed.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.
* * *
In your voice
Read reactions to this story
Newest first Oldest first
sameoldstuff wrote:
It is great that you can distinguish what engines are on what airplanes
kudos to you. As for the noise I also live west of the airport and closer
than 16 miles. I barely even hear them. 4/21/2008 3:50:47 AM
onekanaka wrote:
The timing is right for putting an end to this problem. I worked at the
Honolulu International Airport from 2002-2004. The noise from the Aloha
jets was ridiculously loud and noticeable when compared to all other
passenger aircraft during and after takeoff. The second thing you notice
is the stream of brown and black smoke from the engines polluting our air.
The exemption needs to go! (No pun intended). Aloha Cargo get with the
program! By the way, wouldn't it be great if the military cared about the
community and acted more responsibly in reducing noise and air pollution
from their aircraft, vehicles, etc.? Aloha, y'all 4/21/2008 3:45:45 AM
cargobetty wrote:
To sameold stuff. Your mail can get piggybacked on the 5 weekly flights
UPS flights. I'm sure those MD-11's can handle it. If they don't fit on
that one then they can go on the 5 Fedex flights to Hilo. As far as
knowing which planes make the most noise, I'm am way qualified to
distinguish the different sounds of different engines at take off and
landing. The end of those planes is not the definitive end to Hilo
receiving their shipments. Where there's a will there's a way and where
there's a demand, there's a business. By the way, those big old MD-11's
are actually quieter than the 732's in both pitch and decible level. I
hope that quelshes your disdain! 4/21/2008 2:59:38 AM
sameoldstuff wrote:
Another thing cargobetty, living sixteen miles west of the airport you
have no clue what aircraft is taking off at the time. It could also be the
hawaii air national guard aircraft that have basically the same engines.
4/21/2008 1:03:38 AM
sameoldstuff wrote:
To cargobetty you surly live on oahu because you have no clue as to the
amount of cargo that aloha airlines flies to Hilo. You don't care because
your mail will not be affected, your bread will not be affected, your ups
deliveries would not be affected. Maui may be set for the superferry but
as far as I know the superferry is not serving Hilo right now. 4/21/2008
1:00:49 AM
cruman87 wrote:
Hey Waikiki, I fell bad for the people who live by the airport, but most
of them are there by choice. They should've known what they were getting
into when they moved there. Oh yeah, what marketplace didn't like Aloha's
operation? Tell me. Where in my previous post did I say that the 737-200s
were the only planes that could do the job? There are other planes that
can do the job, but how do you get planes? Money. They couldn't afford new
planes at the moment. In a few years if things hadn't south, then I am
sure they would've got new planes. In fact Aloha last year was looking at
possible new planes to purchase. And I know how it (ecomony) works. If
Aloha Cargo does go someone will try to replace it, but there is still a
problem you didn't answer. Who is going to do it? The Superferry. Well I
thought everyone didn't like the superferry. My point is that as far as
Aloha goes, the state is going to side with Aloha instead of those
homeowners for the sake of the states economy. 4/20/2008 11:29:11 PM
Waikiki wrote:
Hey, cruman87, what an excellent idea! Why don't we put an airport runway
next to your house or apartment and see how you like it. Truly am sorry
for the Aloha employees, which is another subject, but the marketplace
just didn't like Aloha's operation and neither do the native Hawaiians of
Keaukaha.
As far as perishable goods and your argument that only Aloha's old, noisey
and gas guzzling planes can do the job, I just don't buy that lame
argument.
You see, the way it (economy) works is that if there is a need or demand,
some business will come in and fill that niche. The upside is that it may
be a new business with newer equipment, hopefully quieter too. 4/20/2008
6:25:01 PM
cruman87 wrote:
I can't believe how dumb some of you are. If you actually lived here or
did your research you would know Aloha did try to upgrade their engines to
newer ones to help alleviate noise concerns. Heck they even got newer
planes for inter-island routes, 737-400s. The only reason they went back
to the 737-200s is that the new planes couldn't handle the constant island
hopping that the old planes could handle, their engines would keep
breaking down. So don't tell me they didn't try. And for you people who
want Aloha to go just because of noise concerns, tell me how are you going
to get overnight cargo huh. Mail, perishable foods, etc. Who is going to
do that. The states economy will go to put it nicely down the drain. So
you should put down your complaints for the good of everyone. 4/20/2008
3:32:32 PM
cargobetty wrote:
I support this whole heartedly. Yes, it is a major problem for the
residents nearby in Hilo but also everywhere else. I just love waking up
at three in the morning from the blast of those junky old noise machines
and I live 16 miles west of HNL. Those planes are way louder than a 747
taking off! I guess the only reason that Aloha has been able to continue
with their noise is because all the rich folks in Kahala live "up wind" of
the sound. Now just wait till the pilots go on strike...finally some
peace. As far as neighbor island shipments? Well, seems as though the
ferry is set up for Maui. However, the people of Kauai chose to shoot down
their contingencies so let them live in their isolation. Again, thanks for
bringing up the noise issue. I wish the outdoor circle was as vigilant
with the noise level here as they are with making signs too small for
drivers to find their way! 4/20/2008 3:12:54 PM
sameoldstuff wrote:
Maybe the military can fly aloha's cargo with there C-5 aircraft. Now
that's some noise. 4/20/2008 2:59:21 PM
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~---------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:12:37 -1000
From: Viviane Lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
Subject: FOOD RATIONING HAS ARRIVED IN AMERICA
http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994
April 21, 2008 Edition
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
BY JOSH GERSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 21, 2008
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. ^× Many parts of America, long considered the
breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable
phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of
New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour,
rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also
anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.
At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers
grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched
in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.
"Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu,
said. "You should be able to buy something like rice. This is
ridiculous."
The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four
or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants,
but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in
stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.
"You can't eat this every day. It's too heavy," a health care
executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded
two sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. "We only need one bag
but I'm getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it," the
elder man said.
The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members
were being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk
dropped two sacks back on the stack after taking them from another
customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap.
"Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice
purchases based on your prior purchasing history," a sign above the
dwindling supply said.
Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that
rice supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager
referred questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle,
who did not return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.
An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no
restrictions on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on
purchases of oil and flour. Internet postings attributed some of the
shortage at the retail level to bakery owners who flocked to
warehouse stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers
doubled.
The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by
survivalists who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious
trouble to come.
"It's sporadic. It's not every store, but it's becoming more
commonplace," the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said.
"The number of reports I've been getting from readers who have seen
signs posted with limits has increased almost exponentially, I'd say
in the last three to five weeks."
Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti,
Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export
of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing
of a new contract for foreign rice sales.
"I'm surprised the Bush administration hasn't slapped export controls
on wheat," Mr. Rawles said. "The Asian countries are here buying
every kind of wheat." Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of
the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by
consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.
"There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it
encourages people to stock up. What most people don't realize is that
supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short," Mr.
Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. "Even if people
increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be
wiped out."
At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and
limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because
store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to
increase prices locally. Mr. Rawles said the spot shortages seemed to
be most frequent in the Northeast and all the way along the West
Coast. He said he had heard reports of buying limits at Sam's Club
warehouses, which are owned by Wal-Mart Stores, but a spokesman for
the company, Kory Lundberg, said he was not aware of any shortages or
limits.
An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web
site, Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice
at Costco. "I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage
spreads, there will be panic buying and the shelves will be empty in
no time. I do not intend to cause a panic, and I am not speculating
on rice to make profit. I am just hoarding some for my own
consumption," he wrote.
For now, rice is available at Asian markets in California, though
consumers have fewer choices when buying the largest bags. "At our
neighborhood store, it's very expensive, more than $30" for a 25-
pound bag, a housewife from Mountain View, Theresa Esquerra, said.
"I'm not going to pay $30. Maybe we'll just eat bread."
=====----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:20:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: megavote@mailmanager.net
Subject: MegaVote: HI 2nd, 4/21/2008
Congress.org presents:
M E G A V O T E
April 21, 2008
In this MegaVote for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District:
Recent Congressional Votes -
* House: Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act
* House: Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act
Upcoming Congressional Bills -
* Senate: Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007
* House: SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act
* House: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007
===========
Recent House Votes:
Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=190&chamber=H&congress=1102
Vote Passed (238-179, 14 Not Voting)
The House passed this bill intended to simplify the federal tax system.
Rep. Mazie Hirono voted
YES
send e-mail (http://capwiz.com/congressorg/mail/?id=31644&mailid=custom)
see bio (http://capwiz.com/congressorg/bio/?id=31644)
----------------
Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=204&chamber=H&congress=1102
Vote Passed (383-27, 21 Not Voting)
The House passed this bill that raises the amount college students can borrow by $2,000.
Rep. Mazie Hirono voted
YES
send e-mail (http://capwiz.com/congressorg/mail/?id=31644&mailid=custom)
see bio (http://capwiz.com/congressorg/bio/?id=31644)
==========
Upcoming Votes:
Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007 - S.1315
The Senate will work on this bill to enhance life insurance benefits for
disabled veterans.
SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act - H.R.5819
The House is scheduled to vote on this bill that would improve the Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business
Technology Transfer (STTR) program.
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007 - H.R.2830
The House is also expected to vote on this bill to authorize
appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2008.
=================================================================
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:01:11 -1000
From: Susan Webster Schultz <schultz@HAWAII.RR.COM>
Subject: Sidewalk blog: Torture series (mostly)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21060&l=285f3&id=654553661
Please find new signs at the end of the series. The news that Cheney,
Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, and Ashcroft, sat around at the White House
pondering torture techniques got the blogger going this week, along with
McCain's notion that the empire must last at least 100 years.
aloha, Susan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:53:45 +0000
From: Poetry Hawaii <poetryhawaii@hotmail.com>
Subject: Ty Pak: Making of a Korean American Writer in Hawai'i
FYI!
*****
Colloquium: The Making of a Korean American Writer in Hawai'i
Ty Pak
Thursday, April 24, 2008
7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Center for Korean Studies Auditorium
Photo: Ty PakBorn in Korea in 1938, critically acclaimed Korean American
writer Ty Pak lived through his country's liberation from Japan in 1945,
its division under U.S. and Soviet occupation, and the trauma of the
Korean War, 1950-53, during which his father died. After getting his law
degree at Seoul National University in 1961, he worked as a reporter for
the English-language dailies, Korean Republic and Korea Times, until 1965,
when he came to the United States and got his Ph.D. in English at Bowling
Green State University in 1969. After a year's postdoctoral work at the
University of California, Berkeley, he taught in the English Department at
the University of Hawai'i at Mànoa from 1970 to 1987, when he took early
retirement to devote himself to writing.
His published fiction has been widely anthologized and includes Guilt
Payment (1983), Cry Korea Cry (1999), and Moonbay (1999). His 1961 book,
A Korean Decameron, is being reprinted with a grant from Harvard
University. His scholarly articles and monographs have appeared in many
journals such as Language, Lingua, Semiotica, and Journal of Formal Logic.
Married and with three children, Ty Pak now lives in Honolulu.
This event is co-sponsored by the College of Language, Linguistics and
Literature and the Department of English.
http://www.hawaii.edu/korea/pages/announce/events2008/coming20.html
*****------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:59:28 -1000
From: Viviane Lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
A Visit With Soli Papkihei Niheu
[26-mn. video]
=======
http://voicesoftruthtv.com/?ep=hale-halawai&from=1&sec=episode
A Visit With Soli Papkihei Niheu
In our moving and highly inspirational visit with Soli, you'll hear
him tell his story and see the pictures for yourself of how he went
from living in a one-room shack to realizing his vision - a hale
halawai. Surviving two earthquakes and many other challenges, Soli
persevered in his vision of having both a monument to his heroes, the
early pioneers of the sovereignty movement, as well as a place for
today to teach the young.
=====--------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:19:00 -1000
From: Kealoha Pisciotta <kealohap@aloha.net>
Subject: Open letter regarding Mauna Kea
Aloha Kakou,
We have received many inquiries from supporters, wishing to remain in
standing for the protection of Mauna Kea, regarding the meetings called
by the University of Hawai`i's planning firm--Ku`iwalu Consulting LLC.
It is our understanding that Ku`iwalu Consulting LLC is contacting
various groups and individuals to meet with them to discuss a
"comprehensive management plan" for Mauna Kea "pursuant" to the recent
court order. There are a number of problems with the claims and
assertions being presented to the pubic by the University and Ku`iwalu.
(/Please see also attached letter from Mauna Kea Hui to BLNR regarding
other University/Ku`iwalu meetings/)
As many of you already know recently the people and the Mauna Kea Hui
plaintiffs (Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, Sierra Club, Hawai`i Island Chapter,
Clarence Ching and the Royal Order of Kamehameha I) won the case for the
protection and conservation of Mauna Kea. However, both the University
and BLNR are appealing this court decision, a decision that specifically
calls for the protection and conservation of Mauna Kea. All of the
above named plaintiffs are back in court in the Intermediate Court of
Appeals, against both the BLNR and University. In short, the University
is seeking to have the lower court decision protecting Mauna Kea
overturned.
We are not participating with University/Ku`iwalu nor can we in good
conscience encourage others to participate in the meeting being
sponsored by the University and Ku`iwalu for the following reasons:
1. Ku`iwalu Consulting LLC is hired by the University and therefore
is an agent for the University. The University is the developer of Mauna
Kea. It is inappropriate for the developer (a conflicted party) to
determine the scope of public access, Native Hawaiian rights,
conservation and development of Mauna Kea all at the same time.
2. We are plaintiffs in the current lawsuit and must preserve our
arguments for the court, hence we cannot participate in these meetings.
The lower court decision was clear, the BLNR has the duty to protect and
conserve the entire summit of Mauna Kea. The court called for a
Conservation Plan for Mauna Kea, not a Development plan for more
telescopes/observatories. We believe it is inappropriate for any
developer including the University to claim to be the controllers of any
conservation lands such as those of Mauna Kea.
3. The University/Ku`iwalu Consulting is claiming they are following
the court order for protection of Mauna Kea, but if this is in fact the
case, then why is the University still appealing the court order? It is
inappropriate to claim to to be following the court's order while
simultaneously seeking to have the court order overturned.
4. The BLNR is the legally responsible entity mandated to protect and
conserve the delicate cultural and natural resources of all conservation
districts in Hawai`i, including Mauna Kea. The University is not the
legally responsible entity and cannot make claims that they are. It is
inappropriate for them to call the public to participate and to give
testimony on the use of conservation lands when they have no legal
authority or say over these lands. The University is only a
leasee/developer, and as such is required to follow the BLNR rules of
conservation for the Mauna Kea Conservation District. Furthermore, the
Supreme Court has address this questions numerous times and has
repeatedly held that State may not transfer their legal responsibilities
to anyone else, including developers. The University's claim that they
are doing this with BLNR consent ignores previous court rulings on this
same question.
We hope this clarifies our positions regarding the
University'/Ku`iwalu's call for meetings and public input on Mauna Kea.
As the court process continues we will do our best to keep everyone
informed and updated. We remain firm in our commitment for no further
development, destruction and or desecration of Mauna Kea. We remain
steadfast in our commitment for Justice, Peace and Aloha for the `Aina
and People of Hawai`i and the World. We thank you all for your show of
Aloha and support for Mauna Kea--it gives us hope and strength to
continue to resist further destruction of Mauna Kea and to stand for the
life--Aloha that Mauna Kea brings to the World.
Aloha no,
Kealoha Pisciotta
[ Part 2.2, Application/MSWORD 47KB. ]
[ Unable to print this part. ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:01:20 -1000 (HST)
From: Mark Heberle <heberle@hawaii.edu>
Subject: Ngugi wa Thiong'o Schedule of Events (fwd)
Schedule of Events with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong`o, the 2008 Daniel and Maggie
Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals
Wed. 4/23 at 1:00 pm, KUY 410: Film Screening, Who's Afraid of Ngugi?
Thurs. 4/24 at 3:00 pm, KUY 410: CTLCS discussion of selected readings
Frid. 4/25 at 1:00 pm, KUY 410: Film Screening,Who's Afraid of Ngugi?
Mon. 4/28 at 7:00 pm, UH MÄ^Ánoa Campus Center Ballroom: NgÅ©gÄ© wa
Thiong`oâ^À^Ùs Keynote Address, â^À^ÜThe Myth of Tribes in African
Politicsâ^À^Ý
Tues. 4/29, 3-4:30 pm, KUY 410: â^À^ÜDecolonizing the Mind: A Conversation
about Culture, Power and Translation." Roundtable and reception with
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong`o, Sam Opondo, S. Shankar and Noenoe Silva.
Wed. 4/30, 5-8:00 pm, UH MÄ^Ánoa Hawaiian Studies Auditorium, HÄ^Álau o
Haumea: Reception (5-6 pm) and Reading (6-8 pm) with Albert Wendt
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:00:30 +1200
From: Clarke <tepaatu@gmail.com>
Empowering Feminine Energy
------ Forwarded Message
From: "Artemis Goldberg" <panthertracker@myself.com>
Empowering Feminine Energy
So often in our world we tend to think of strength as a quality that
arises from a place of firm determination and a will to succeed no matter
the cost.. Even though we might want to think of a strong woman as being
defined in this way, what really makes a woman confident is her capacity
for listening to her true self and being able to call upon her feminine
wisdom to any situation that may arise. A woman does not need to step into
an assertive role or act like a man in order to be effective at what she
does˜she simply needs to get in touch with her insight and sense of
compassion to truly demonstrate the depth of her strength.
Listening to the feminine side of ourselves may not seem easy at first for
this type of energy is something that is often overlooked in many aspects
of our everyday lives. If we can connect with this part of who we are,
however, we will find that there is an unlimited wellspring of strength
available to us. Our capacity to tap into our intuition and listen to our
inner guides, to take into account the needs of those around us, and to
view a situation with compassion and love are ways that we can show the
world the true power that is part of our feminine nature. When we learn to
integrate this source of strength into our daily tasks and
decision-making, we will find that we can be more flexible and open to the
things that happen around us and more receptive to new ideas. Not only
will we see the world in a different light, but we will truly start to
realize the potential for this form of energy to both empower ourselves
and those around us.
As we cultivate our feminine energy we can redefine the meaning of
strength.. By embracing our feminine power as something that is strong in
its own right, we are able to use it with true assurance and determination
and draw upon what truly belongs to us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:15:01 -1000
From: Amanda Maluhia Rang Sawa <amanda@nativebookshawaii.com>
Subject: [nativebooks] May Events at Native Books/Na Mea Hawaii
Mei ^Õ May^Õ 2008
Events at Native Books/Na Mea Hawaii
For more information Native Books/Na Mea Hawai^Ñi events,
please contact Gay Jennings at 783-2612 or dial the main store at
596-8885.
UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS
For more info on events, call Amanda Sawa at the Ward Warehouse store at
596-8885.
Book Signing, ^ÓBeloved Queen Emma of Hawai^Ñi^Ô
With author, Barbara Del Piano
May 3, Saturday, 12 noon ^Ö 1 pm
Meet the author of the new book, ^ÓBeloved Queen Emma of Hawai^Ñi^Ô and
get your copy signed. The story chronicles the life and times of Emma
Rooke^Òs early life, her years at the Chief^Òs Children^Òs School, and her
marriage to Alexander Liholiho, Kamehameha IV, which raised her to the
exalted position of Queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Special May Day Celebration Concert
May 4, Sunday, 11:30 am ^Ö 3:30 pm
Join us for a special Nâ Mele Nei free Sunday concert in collaboration
with local clothing designer, Nake^Ñu Awai. Featuring our May Day Lei
Queen, Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna, and her Court from 11:30 to 12
noon; a 64th birthday celebration concert featuring Novalei & ^Ñohana;
Hawaiian music, hula performances, and special lei display with Uncle
Bill Char.
Lomilomi for the Spirit
May 8, Thursday, 6:30-8 pm
May 22, Thursday, 6:30-8pm
Join LiAnn Uyeda, instructor and owner of Aloha Lomilomi, for a free
lomilomi massage workshop.
Learn basic lomilomi massage techniques to benefit your body and spirit.
Lomilomi is a healing art of the Hawaiian culture, a powerful massage
working with the spirit of ALOHA. Lomilomi combines multiple techniques
into the power of one. The touch communicates down to the bones, deep
into the soul yet gentle to the body. For more information and to
reserve your space, call 728-5244.
Literature Reading from Bamboo Ridge Journal #91
May 9, Friday, 6:30 pm
Please join us for a literary reading with several authors from the
latest edition of Bamboo Ridge Journal. Native Books congratulates
Bamboo Ridge as they celebrate their 30th anniversary this year and the
publication of their 91st issue, with over 40 authors in one of the best
collections of local literature.
Hawai^Ñi Book & Music Festival 2008
Downtown on the Frank F. Fasi Civic Grounds of Honolulu Hale
Saturday, May 17, 10:00 am ^Ö 5:00 pm
Sunday, May 18, 10:00 am ^Ö 5:00 pm
Come visit Native Books at the Hawai^Ñi Book & Music Festival as we
celebrate and feature Hawaii^Òs best books and their authors. This is a
free annual two-day weekend festival featuring a hundred performances,
presentations, demonstrations, signings and other events by over 300
celebrated local, national and international authors, poets,
storytellers, playwrights, songwriters, composers, arrangers and
musicians.
Book Launch, ^ÓThe Heart of Being Hawaiian^Ô
With author Sally-Jo Bowman
May 29, Thursday, 6:30 pm
Come celebrate the publication of Sally-Jo Bowman^Òs newest book, ^ÓThe
Heart of Being Hawaiian.^Ô Join us for a reading from the book, meet the
author, have your book signed and enjoy pûpûs and music with us. This
book is a compilation of pieces she^Òs worked on throughout the years
that pertain to her identity as a woman of Hawaiian ancestry, and to
general Hawaiian culture^×hula, Hawaiian language immersion schools, lua,
lomilomi, Kaho^Ñolawe, Kalaupapa and more.
JUNE
HÂ! ^Ö Breath Meditation Workshop
June 4, Wednesday, 7 pm - 8pm
An introduction to the three forms of Hawaiian meditation: Active,
Passive & Storing will be presented and demonstrated by Dr. Elithe
Manuha^Ñaipo Kahn. The workshop is FREE with the purchase of the "HÂ!"
book. Please call #523-3622 for more information and/or to reserve a
space. This workshop is only offered three times a year.
ON-GOING WORKSHOPS in our AUPUNI ART PLACE
Mondays ^Ö Lei Hulu (Feather) Workshops with Kaha^Ñi Topolinski & Eric
Wada
5:30pm ^Ö 9pm
Students will learn the traditional craft of Hawaiian featherwork through
projects such as lei hulu (feather lei), kâhili (feather standard) and
other hulu items. Classes are $25 per month or $10 per lesson and
participants will continue working on their projects from week to week.
There is also an extra fee for supplies. For info, call 292-8862.
Tuesdays - Intermediate Hula (Adult)
8:15 am to 9:15 am
Join Germaine Kaleolani Haili's intermediate class with hula mana'o.
Haumâna (students) will learn the history, language and culture of this
beautiful art form. For more info contact Germaine at 371-9263.
Wednesdays- Beginning 'Ôlelo Hawai'i or Hawaiian Language
8:15m ^Ö 9:15 am
Learn basic Hawaiian words and phrases from instructor Germaine Kaleolani
Haili. This class also features place name pronunciations and stories,
and various mo'olelo. For more info contact Germaine at 371-9263.
Thursdays ^Ö Introduction to Hula Classes (Young Adult to Kupuna)
Beginning Hula: 5 pm to 6 pm
Intermediate Hula: 6 pm to 7 pm
Learn basic movements of hula from instructor Germaine Kaleolani Haili.
Haumâna (students) will learn the history, language and culture of this
beautiful art form. Classes are held at the Ward Amphitheater. Classes
are for young adults thru kupuna. For more info contact Germaine at
371-9263.
Saturdays - Beginning Adult 'Ukulele Classes
9:30 am-10:30 am
Have fun learning how to play the 'ukulele with instructor Puanani Higgins
every Saturday morning. Please bring your own 'ukulele.
Saturdays - Make & Take Workshops with Michiko West
12 pm - 4 pm
Make and take home your own fimo clay creations with Michiko West. There
is a nominal fee for this class. Call Aulani at 947-4032 for more
information.
First Sundays - Nâ Mele Nei Concerts
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (April 6, May 4, etc.)
April concert: Derrick May, and the Nâ Mele Nei Backyard Gang
May concert: Special May Day celebration from 11:30 am ^Ö 3:30 pm
With our May Day Lei Queen, a birthday celebration concert for Novalei,
hula performances, and special lei display with uncle Bill Char.
Enjoy the many musical talents of Hawai^Ñi, from traditional ^Ñukulele to
slack key guitar to contemporary. Concerts are held at the Ward Warehouse
Amphitheater every first Sunday of the month. Each month, a special
guest artist or group will perform, followed by the Nâ Mele Nei Backyard
Gang who promises a delightful island style afternoon with Hawaiian
music, hula and stories.
GUEST ARTIST DEMONSTRATIONS
Meet the artist and gain a hands-on experience with featured
demonstrations at both our Ward and Hilton location. Please call to
confirm artist scheduling at Ward (596-8885) and at Hilton (949-3989).
For further information on these and other Native Books/Nâ Mea Hawai^Ñi
events please contact Amanda Sawa at #596-8885.
+++PAU+++----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:35:05 -1000
From: pete shimazaki doktor <dok@riseup.net>
Tibet nationalisms & "How Asians and
Westerners Think Differently"
mahalo for this posting, kyle- hope all is well in china!
i read this twice, trying to connect it to demilitarization. i only
came up w/ a parallel (not same) situation in okinawa: while polls and
referendums have consistently been around the 80-90% against US base
occupation for the past several decades in okinawa, there are generally 2
types of demilitarization: overwhelmingly, okinawans want all military
out (including japanese self-defense forces) and more autonomy (ala china
& taiwan), but surely less than 5% of the okinawan population is for both
independence (from japan) and demilitarization. this hasn't divided the
demilitarization movement, but rather kept their numbers strong, as they
work in solidarity against demilitarization, despite different
motivations and objectives for it (e.g., political, spiritual, economic,
cultural, environmental, etc.). thus in okinawa, being both for
demilitarization and for being a part of the japanese nation-state (a
relationship founded on militarism and colonialism), is not seen as a
contradiction.
this may come as a contradiction to some western leftists, but that
is from a dualistic viewpoint (either/or) and sense of entitlement, not
as prominent within far east cultures. similarily, some western leftists
may not understand why the dalai lama doesn't advocate complete
independence from tibet, but more self-autonomy from china rather than
complete separation. this combination of pragmatism, realism and premium
placed on harmony (and non-violence for dalai lama) is consistent w/
their buddhist emphasis on "the middle way," or some form of "win-win"
resolution upholding the integrity of relationships. furthermore, the
dalai lama recognizes the importance of china introducing buddhism to
tibet centuries ago, thus maintains respect to china as a civilization
(note: personally, i'm not one to idolize the dalai lama, but rather
understand him as a leader through his actions, words and sentiments). on
that note, the idea that the dalai lama or fellow tibetans are only
instigating against china due to CIA and/or other western intervention
similar to the argument many were making in the '50s & '60s in the USA,
that the civil rights had little do with sincere self-determination and
resistance to injustice by minority americans, but simply
communist/soviet antagonism. in other words, i find this ridiculous
given the past couple decades of non-violent activism by tibetans at home
and abroad, and the words/actions/being of the dalai lama.
anyway, i'm including an article in this fundamental difference
between the way east asians and americans view themselves and the world
around, although i think the collectivist nature of east asian cultures
is not unique to them, but perhaps rudimentary to most traditional and
indigenous cultures rooted in their sociobiological nature as social
animals, as opposed to the modernist's abstract notion of "the
individual." one of the best examples of this chasms is in international
law: western law emphasizes the right (entitlement) of the individual (or
now, the corporation), but not the collective; thus, not much justice
when it comes to collective justice to indigenous peoples (e.g., UN).
this conflict of orientations is behind many of the conflicts between the
west and non-west, including military occupations vs. local populace.
however, i think this article is also instructive strategically for
activists to move beyond false binaries, and to forge better alliances
between WASP and non-WASP communities (not to be understood as a dualism
itself, but rather culture clash).
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3208&Itemid=244
Shambhala Sun | May 2008
We Think, Therefore We Are
Reviewed by Charles R. Johnson
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently . .
. and Why
By Richard E. Nisbett
Free Press; 288 pp., $15 (paper)
In one of the most fascinating, thought-provoking, and scientifically
grounded books on cultural relativity in recent years, distinguished
University of Michigan scholar Richard E. Nisbett explores the
dramatically different thought processes of Westerners and East Asians.
"Human cognition is not everywhere the same," he states, for some people
have used different conceptual tools to understand the world.
His detailed journey into this profound (and some might feel politically
incorrect) realm of difference spans history, philosophy, psychology,
geography, and linguistics. Naturally, his conclusions will be of special
interest to Western converts to Buddhism and other Eastern spiritual
practices. But as Nisbett shows through a wide range of studies, surveys,
and observational research conducted by himself and his colleagues around
the world, these two fundamentally different ways of conceiving and
experiencing reality influence every aspect of our contemporary
life-education, law, business, child-rearing and social relations-and
account for much of the misunderstanding about behavior and expectations
that arise between Easterners and Westerners.
Nisbett begins probing these worldviews that are at such variance with an
historical overture of the ecological and philosophical foundations of
thought in ancient Greece and China. Three characteristics are crucial
hallmarks of Greek life 2,500 years ago, he says. First, "the location of
the Greeks at the crossroads of the world" fed their sense of curiosity
and brought this maritime trading people into contact with different
cultures to such a degree that "Athens itself would have been rather like
the bar in Star Wars." Secondly, the Greeks "had a remarkable sense of
personal agency-the sense that they were in charge of their own lives and
free to act as they chose." And lastly, "A strong sense of individual
identity accompanied the Greek sense of personal agency."
This sense of agency, says Nisbett, fueled a tradition of debate in the
Greek city-state, or polis. Debate was a spirited contest between
individuals, with all the contention, dichotomies, and conflict one might
expect when "persuasion by dint of rational argument" is the rule. That
belief in individualism and agency also led early Greek thinkers, like
Aristotle, to be "deeply concerned with the question of which properties
made an object what it was," regardless of the context or field in which
one might find it. "A routine habit of Greek philosophers," Nisbett
writes, "was to analyze the attributes of an object-person, place, thing,
or animal-and categorize the object on the basis of its abstracted
attributes."
Categories are denoted by static, unchanging nouns (which Western
children are taught as soon as they can talk), and this isolation of an
object allowed it to be studied. Its unchanging, independent, static
essence could be discovered, and none of this would have been possible
without the logical principles of noncontradiction, which states that a
proposition cannot be both truth and false ("A and not-A are
impossible"), and the law of identity, in which a thing is itself and not
some other thing ("A is A regardless of the context"). Moving forward as
he sketches a capsule intellectual history of the West, Nisbett concludes
that "the history of Europe...created a new sort of person-one who
conceived of individuals as separate from the larger community and who
thought in terms imbued with freedom."
The ontology underlying Asian thought is significantly different. Nisbett
argues that in contrast to the exposure the Greeks had to so many
different people (and views), which led them to address contradiction in
an either/or fashion, the Chinese were ethnically homogeneous and unified
as a people early on. The author notes that "even today 95 percent of the
Chinese population belongs to the same Han ethnic group." While the
Greeks cherished agency, argued with each other in the marketplace,
debated in the political assembly ("a contest between opponents"), and
thought of themselves "as individuals with distinct properties, as units
separate from others," the Chinese embraced harmony as their social
ideal. "Every Chinese was first and foremost a member of a
collective...the clan, the village, and especially the family. ... For
the early Confucians, there can be no me in isolation, to be considered
abstractly: I am the totality of roles I live in relation to specific
others."
In other words, Asian ontology emphasized a sense of collective agency.
Added to that, Confucianism, with its complex network of social roles and
obligations, and its "Doctrine of the Golden Mean-to be excessive in
nothing and to assume that between two propositions, and between two
contending individuals, there is truth on both sides," was compatible
with two other great Eastern religions. One was Taoism, which teaches
that "The Tao is conceived as both `is' and `is not' "; that
"Returning-moving in endless cycles-is the basic pattern of movement of
the Tao"; and that opposites interpenetrate, as illustrated by the famous
ying-yang symbol.
The other religion was Buddhism, with its principles of the Middle Way
and pratitya samutpada, or dependent origination. The result of this
fusion was that folk life reinforced a metaphysics (and vice versa) that
gave priority to a "both/and" dialectical way of thinking, a sensitivity
to interdependence, "the need to see things whole," and "the mutual
influence of everything on almost everything else." Objects are not in
opposition, nor are they static or unchanging. A person was "connected,
fluid, and conditional" and not a "bounded, impermeable free agent."
Emphasis moves to the verb (becoming), not the noun (being).
For Easterners, close attention to relationships, attitudes, and the
feelings of others gained in importance. Compromise and hostility
resolution were highly valued. "There is a strong presumption that
contradictions are merely apparent and to believe that `A is right and B
is not wrong either.' This stance is captured in the Zen Buddhist dictum
that `the opposite of a great truth is also true.'" (Think of the
dialectical logic of Nagarjuna and the Madhyamika school.) And rather
than abstractions, "Chinese philosophers quite explicitly favored the
more concrete sense impressions in understanding the world." A wide-angle
view that saw the background (field) was just as important as focusing on
the figure.
Lest anyone might suspect that Nisbett is trafficking in sweeping
oversimplifications of East and West, I can assure readers that his book
is filled with subtlety and nuance. He readily acknowledges that
"Independence vs. interdependence is of course not an either/or matter.
Every society-and every individual-is a blend of both." In his research,
he finds "that it is the white Protestants among the American
participants in our studies who show the most Western patterns of
behavior and that Catholics and minority group members, including African
Americans and Hispanics, are shifted somewhat toward Eastern patterns,"
and also that continental Europeans are intermediate between East Asian
and Anglo-American social attitudes and values.
But all this background is, says Nesbitt, just preparation for the heart
of the book, which is contained in chapters four through seven. There,
his studies confirm that "Westerners are the protagonists of their
autobiographical novels; Asians are merely cast members in movies
touching upon their lives." When developmental psychologists Jessica Han,
Michelle Leichtman, and Qi Wang studied four- to-six-year-old American
and Chinese children, they found that "the proportion of self-references
was more than three times higher for American children than for Chinese
children. ... American children made twice as many references to their
own internal states, such as preferences and emotions, as did the Chinese
children." In short, for American kids: "Well, enough about you; let's
talk about me."
Figure/ground differences were confirmed when students at Kyoto and
Michigan Universities were twice shown an underwater vignette of fish
swimming. Asked what they had seen, "American and Japanese made about an
equal number of references to the focal fish, but the Japanese made more
than 60 percent more references to background elements including the
water, rocks, bubbles, and inert plants and animals." Nisbett provides
illustrations for this experiment and another of an airport site. Taking
the test myself, I discovered to my astonishment just how many obvious
background details my Western-conditioned perception failed to grasp.
Nesbitt's research finds that these differences begin literally in the
crib. He writes, "American mothers used twice as many object labels as
Japanese mothers (`piggie,' `doggie') and Japanese mothers engaged in
twice as many social routines of teaching politeness norms (empathy and
greetings, for example). An American mother's patter might go like this:
`That's a car. See the car? You like it? It's got nice wheels.' A
Japanese mother might say: `Here! It's a vroom vroom. I give it to you.
Now give this to me. Yes! Thank you.' American children are learning that
the world is mostly a place with objects, Japanese children that the
world is mostly about relations."
Predictably, these subtle differences can lead to a clash of cultures.
"Westerners teach their children to communicate their ideas clearly and
to adopt a `transmitter' orientation," Nisbett says, "that is, the
speaker is responsible for uttering sentences that can be clearly
understood by the hearer-and understood, in fact, more or less
independently of the context. It's the speaker's fault if there is a
miscommunication. Asians, in contrast, teach their children a `receiver'
orientation, meaning that it is the hearer's responsibility to understand
what is being said. ...Westerners-and perhaps especially Americans-are
apt to find Asians hard to read because Asians are likely to assume that
their point has been made indirectly and with finesse... . (They) in
turn, are apt to find Westerners-perhaps especially Americans-direct to
the point of condescension or even rudeness." Furthermore, Nisbett
observes, "What is intrusive and dangerous in the East is considered a
means for getting at the truth in the West. Westerners place an almost
religious faith in the free marketplace of ideas."
College professors such as myself occasionally see in the classroom the
consequences of our aggressive, Western approach. The author includes a
revealing story about Heejung Kim, a Korean graduate student at Stanford
who "became exasperated with the constant demand of her American
instructors that she speak up in class. She was told repeatedly that
failure to speak up would be taken as an indication of failure to
understand the material." Kim put this problem to a test, having people
speak out loud as they solved problems. What did her experiment find?
"This had no effect on the performance of European Americans. But the
requirement had very deleterious effects on the performance of Asians and
Asian Americans." Nisbett wonders, "Is it a form of `colonialism' to
demand that they perform verbally and share their thoughts with their
classmates?"
Rich in examples, illustrations, empirical studies, and anecdotes, The
Geography of Thought considers not only the differences today between
East and West, but also whether there is evidence that these two cultural
worlds are moving farther apart or converging. No one will see the world
in quite the same way after reading it.
Click here to read more about this book from the publisher.
Charles R. Johnson is a professor of English at the University of
Washington in Seattle. His novels include Dreamer and Middle Passage, for
which he won a National Book Award.
We Think, Therefore We Are, Charles R. Johnson, Shambhala Sun, May 2008.
Kyle Kajihiro wrote:
Subject: [csgboston] Tibet nationalisms (recommended)
(NOTE: THIS IS FROM THE ZHONGGUO LIST. IT IS A CLARIFYING
ANALYSIS OF TIBET NATIONALISMS.)
Below is what I wrote to a few friends. Saul suggested that I
send my
two cents to the list.
cheers, Yan Hairong
I think it is inadequate to only see two nationalisms in
play here. Certainly US imperialism has been part of the
Tibet
question from the very beginning, nurtured and shaped it. To
see the
problem as an issue between two nationalism reflects the very
problem
that I have been talked about with regard to some of the U.S.
left and
progressives. So to critically reflect on this problem, we
need to speak on two
nationalisms and the U.S. imperialism.
On the question of Tibetan nationalism, there are at least
three kinds
as I see it, based on the conversations and interviews on
five trips to
Tibet I took with Barry in the late 1990s and early 2000s and
based on some
works that I have read and reviewed (Asian Ethnicity 2000,
2008).
Separatist nationalism has a small presence in Tibetan areas,
but is
most prominent in voicing itself. In Tibet it's probably
mostly held by
some monks, some lumpen, some merchants, maybe a very small
portion of
the elite. Outside China, it has a huge presence, harbored
and
promoted by most of the exile forces, transnational Tibet
support
groups, and Western elites and activists.
Non-separatist nationalism is probably pervasive among
Tibetans in
Tibet, but is more quiet and everyday.
This latter kind can be divided into two:
Middle class Tibetans are cultural nationalists. They are not
separatist, but most of them respect the Dalai Lama because
he has the
status of the international cultural icon of Tibetanness.
Some
middle-class elite Tibetans, esp. those in power, also turn
separatist
instability into a political resource to enhance their
bargaining
power with the central government so as to extract more
subsidy and
benefits (Wang Lixiong does a good analysis of this in his
book
Tian Zang, which is included in my review article on the
Tibet question
published in 2000, Asian Ethnicity). So one can say among
middle-class
Tibetans, there exists a non-separatist cultural nationalism
(for
majority), and a kind of non-separatist nationalism that
plays with
separatism (some of those in power). Cultural nationalism is
also
hierarchical. When Wu Jinhua, an ethnic Yi, was the party
secretary of
TAR in the 1980s, he was said to be looked down upon by some
elite
Tibetans because he's a Yi.
Nationalism among lower class Tibetans is perhaps more driven
by their
everyday experiences of economic inequality. Most of it is
non-separatist. Most of them seem also respect the Dalai Lama
because
of his spiritual leader status.
One should distinguish separatism nationalism from
non-separatist
nationalism (the latter is in fact encouraged by the Chinese
government, not just for Tibetans, but for ethnic minorities
in
general, that one should be proud of one's ethnicity. It
doesn't mesh
well with the discourse of development. But that's the kind
of
contradiction one often finds in the real life of everyday
politics).
But the line between separatist and non-separatist
nationalism is not
hard and fixed. Many rioters of this recent protest may not
be
separatists (it's difficult to know), but they are mobilized
to chant
separatist slogans that echo those of the exile forces. We
know that many
Tibetans go to India legally and illegally and come back
(some ordinary
people go there to seek the Dalai Lama's blessing, some go to
study English
(many elite Tibetans send their children to study in India or
send one to India
and the other to Beijing), monks also travel there to receive
training, etc.)
There are connections between Tibetans in Tibet and those in
exile. Chinese government also had a program to attract
overseas
Tibetans to settle back in Tibet (the program didn't go as
well as
magined and disappointed some overseas Tibetans who didn't
get as much
benefits as they expected and some Tibetans in Tibet who felt
it
unfair to accord privilege to overseas Tibetans).
While non-separatist nationalism is held by the majority in
Tibet, the
dynamics of the Tibet question is driven by separatist
nationalism,
backed by its Western elite patrons and clueless
self-righteous
do-gooders.
As long as the separatist nationalism wags the Tibet
question, it's
extremely difficult to have a political settlement of the
issue. A
lack of such a settlement has a consequence for residents in
Tibet:
there will be an escalation of ethnicization of social and
economic
problems. This context provides no realistic condition for a
working
class alliance across ethnic boundaries. On this matter I am
reminded
what Spivak said in my interview with her:
"The global game is a game that is not going to stop because
I am
saying something. So I think whatever I say will be said as a
comment
on it rather than a suggestion to them because they are not
going to
listen to the two of us talking in this gendered and private
place. In
Shakespeare's Henry IV, Glendower comes forward and says -
maybe I
said this to Tani also - "I can call the spirits from the
vasty deep"
and Hotspur asks him "will they come when you do call for
them?" You
know, anybody can make suggestions, but it's foolish if it
has no
effect [chuckle]."
Back to the original question: yes, we don't know much about
many of
the intricacies of the Tibet question. But we know enough to
say there
are more than two nationalisms in the Tibet question. In my
view, we
need to be opposed to positions (we also know enough to know
what
these are) that prevent the settlement of the Tibet question.
To do so
doesn't make us supporters of Chinese nationalism (if we fear
so, then
we ourselves think in terms of binarism).
--------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:18:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: "CodePink Hawaii (Oahu)" <codepinkhawaii@yahoo.com>
Subject: Invite to Peace Speaker Series
Dear Friends for Peace,
Forwarding info and extended invitation to an upcoming event that you may
be interested attending...
Women^Òs Federation for World Peace - Honolulu
Presents
Number 4 in the Peace Speaker Series
^ÓConversation on Israel / Palestine^Ô
with Margaret Brown
This series is organized in order to provide an opportunity to dialog with
local speakers representing diverse faiths and backgrounds in an informal
setting.
When: Wednesday, April 30, 2008
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
(Refreshments will be served)
Where: Chaminade University, Henry Hall, Room 221 (the second floor,
across street from Ching Conference; Park near Security Office and we will
have greeter in front of Security Office to assist you.
For further info contact: Margaret Goodheart 450-2384
Margaret Brown, currently is coordinator of Friends of Sabeel, Hawaii and
has been involved with the organization since 2002. She has been a
member of Church of the Crossroads for the past 12 years where she has
been serving as coordinator for their ministry of care and visitation,
which is connected with Project Dana, the Buddhist interfaith volunteer
caregiver organization.
She has actively been involved in Contemplative Outreach Hawaii for 12
years and facilitates a Centering Prayer Group at Church of the
Crossroads.
In addition, Margaret has worked 15 years for the Honolulu Gerontology
Program leading community based exercise and socialization groups for
frail elderly clients all over Oahu. Currently, she is semi-retired but
still works twice a month with a group of residential assisted care-home
clients at the Waipahu Civic Center.
There has been much interest in Margaret^Òs topic and although a volatile
subject, any one who plays fiddle in a Celtic music band and has the
humor to refer to her degree as ^Óancient^Ô will certainly have a deft
touch in easing us through this important and controversial
discussion. And yes, to accommodate more personal expression, small
discussion groups will be held.
Margaret is in harmony with those involved with The Peace Speaker^Òs
Series when she expresses a ^Ólife-long passion for working to promote
interfaith understanding and the transcending of prejudice.^Ô
We learned from Glenda Wildschut, South African human rights advocate and
peace builder that the only way to reconcile generations of enmity and
apartheid is to WANT PEACE, to recognize wrongdoing on both sides, then
to forgive, utterly.
Women^Òs Federation for World Peace, Honolulu is a USA chapter of WFWP
International. WFWP enjoys official consultative status with the Economic
and Social Council of the United Nations. Since its Non-Government
Organization (NGO) designation in 1997, WFWP has focused on strengthening
peace within the family and reaching out across national and religious
divides to heal and reconcile.
________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:47:02 -0400
From: KahiwaL@cs.com
Rice Shortage - at Costco
>Hi all,
Tried to buy some rice at Costco tonight - April 21 - in Kona.
>
>They were allowing purchase of one bag per family because of a "temporary"
>shortage. However, the shortage seems to be on the west coast and here for
>rice and flour and oil on the east coast.
>
>Very interesting. I'd say - "Stock up, Folks!"
>
>ku
------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:24 -1000
From: pennysfh@hawaii.rr.com
plant kalo! dryland, wetland, in buckets, in rock piles and mulch pockets -
wherever you can.
--------
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:13:39 -1000
From: pennysfh@hawaii.rr.com
yup, that works. pickup truck beds work well too. have food; will
travel.
----- Original Message -----
From: "mike reitz" <mreitz@pacbell.net>
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 11:02 PM
>
> ...the old tires as planters trick?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
From: omcreations@riseup.net
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:08 AM
Subject: EarthDay family friendly Film series, 25 April 2008, 7-9pm
You're invited to a family friendly EarthDay film showcase at StudioBe
this Friday. Kids are welcome. Check out the films below.
It's this Friday, 25th April. Hope to see you there.
Calendar for 25th April 2008
Contact: Moana Meyer 808-351-4960 or Rob Kinslow 349-5968
What: EarthDay Film showcase (family friendly)
When: 25th April 2008, 7-9 pm
Short films start at 7pm
"The story of Stuff" starts at 7:30p
"Kilowatt Hours" starts at 8 pm
Where: StudioBe Hawaii
1192 Smith St.
63 N Beretania
Honolulu, HI 96817
studiobehawaii.com
In celebration of EarthDay, you are invited to bring your families and
friends to StudioBe in Chinatown to enjoy an transformational EarthDay
film series. In this EarthDay film line-up starting at 7 pm, four short
films will be followed by "The Story of Stuff" at 7:30 pm and "Kilowatt
Hours" at 8 pm. For our Earth activities, a donation of $10 is requested.
StudioBe is conveniently located on the corner immediately across Smith
street from underground public parking. Access parking from Nuuanu and
Beretania behind the post-office. At StudioBe "MAKE DASPACE TO JUST BE."
The film line-up will include,
1) "The Da Versity Code" 6:30 mins. A secret held for millennia is about
to be exposed.
2) "Grocery Store Wars" 5:50 mins. Not long ago in a supermarket not so
far away. Help fight the dark side of the farm.
3) "Meatrix" TRT 3:45 mins. "The Meatrix" spoofs "The Matrix" films and
highlights the problems with factory farming. Instead of Keanu Reeves,
The Meatrix stars a young pig, Leo, who lives on a pleasant family
farm... he thinks. Leo is approached by a trenchcoat-clad cow, Moopheus,
and joins him on a journey to learn more about what goes on behind closed
barn doors at factory farms.
4) "Climate: A Crisis Averted" 4:04 mins. looks back from 2056 and
recounts how ordinary citizens in 2006 -- realizing that global warming
was a scientific fact and not a climatic theory -- take action to demand
clean energy and other planet-friendly options. The movie describes how a
movement called RenewUS effected real change with an action plan, or
'call-to-arms' on global warming.
5) "Story of Stuff" ~ 22 mins. The Story of Stuff will take you on a
provocative tour of our consumer driven culture - from resource
extraction to iPod incineration - exposing the real costs of our use-it
and lose-it approach to stuff.
6) "Kilowatt Hours" A plan to re-energize America. 55 mins.
***------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:38:29 -0400
From: DLIMay7@aol.com
Subject: [demilnet_Hawaii] Revue of Ann Wright's book at Barnes & Noble
Hi fellow midPac Peaceniks et al,
Please ck. out a surprisingly cogent book revue of Ann Wright's
excellent DISSENT: Voices of Conscience(published by Koa Books of Kihei,
Maui). 4 Stars--****--no less(you can decide whether the book itself or
the revue, or BOTH, are worth the 4 gold stars!) BTY, did I forget to
mention that the reviewer is yours truly? Enjoy, and your valued mana'o
very welcome.
Peace & Imua, Danny
Customer Reviews
Number of Reviews: 1
Average Rating: Customer Rating for this product is 4 out of 5
Customer Rating for this product is 4 out of 5 Saying NO to USA Empire
Danny Li (dlimay7@flex.com) , a Peace activist in mid-Pac., 04/18/2008 The
illegal U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has now entered its sixth
year, and even though the American electorate has voiced strong desire at
the polls since 2006 to get U.S. troops out, both the Bush regime and
Congress have refused this democratic mandate to pull out. So how can
citizens take the initiative to stop this imperial war? Ann Wright--a
29-year veteran of the U.S. Army and State Dept. who righteously resigned
her post at the start of the fraudulent U.S. invasion in 2003--has written
a highly readable account of the many USA government officials and even
soldiers who have refused to participate in this illegal aggression. Along
with co-author Susan Dixon, Wright has compiled an impressive listing of
hundreds of American'and also many others from the 'Coalition of the
Willing' nations'government employees who have turned into courageous
'refuse-niks' to oppose this Imperial misadventure. The most touching
passages are statements from th e GI refuse-niks--most of whom originally
believed they were serving their country--who have since learned the grim
realities of U.S. imperial policies from their actual experiences on the
ground in this genocidal War on Iraq. A careful dissemination and reading
of DISSENT will help to spark many more citizens' efforts to oppose the
logic of the modern American Empire. Also recommended: Shubomi, Banker to
the Poor, Fidel's Cuba
From the Publisher
Dissent in a Democracy profiles government officials whose loyalty to the
Constitution and the American people ultimately transcended partisan
politics. With careers, reputations, and personal safety on the line, they
spoke out against the administration's misdeeds and cover-ups: Craig
Murray, who leaked documents revealing horrific human rights abuses by
coalition ally Uzbekistan; John Brady Kiesling and other ambassadors who
resigned in the run-up to war; Bunnatine Greenhouse, who blew the lid off
a massive government contracting scandal; military officials like General
Eric Shinseki; and many others who demonstrated the courage of their
convictions. From desk jockeys to high-ranking diplomats, these patriotic
men and women share one common trait: a willingness to stand up and speak
truth to power. By exposing policies and actions that run counter to the
best interests of the nation and its people, they elucidate why dissent is
crucial to a thriving democracy.
________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:11:35 +1200
From: Clarke <tepaatu@gmail.com>
Anything Can Be Overcome
------ Forwarded Message
From: "Artemis Goldberg" <panthertracker@myself.com>
Hope In Hardship Anything Can Be Overcome
The journey that each human being makes through earthly existence can have
hardship as often as it is touched by joy. When we encounter adversity,
the stress we feel can erode our optimism, eventually convincing us that
the issues we face cannot be overcome. In truth, there is no situation so
dire, no challenge so great, and no choice so bewildering that it cannot
be overcome. Though we may believe that all avenues have been closed to us
or that our most conscientious efforts will come to naught, we are never
without feasible options. The best course of action may be veiled in
doubt, but it is there. When we are honest with ourselves with regard to
this simple fact, we can overcome anything because we will never stop
looking for a solution to the challenges before us.
Self-trust coupled with a sturdy plan is the ultimate antidote to
adversity's tendency to inspire disillusionment in the human mind. As
difficult as the obstacle plaguing you seems, it is no match for the love
of a supportive universe that has been a part of your life since the day
of your birth and will be with you forevermore. Try not to be misguided by
your fear as this gives rise to the notion that there are problems without
solutions. If you believe in your capabilities and dedicate yourself to
the creation of some form of resolution, you will be surprised to discover
that paths that were once closed to you miraculously open. Even if all you
can do is change your perspective to turn an impediment into an
opportunity to grow, you will have found the hope that is an inherent
element of all hardship.
Remember that your destiny is a product of your own creation. Even when it
seems you have nowhere left to turn, there is a solution waiting for you.
The only insurmountable obstacles are the ones you create in your own
mind-and these can only exert power over you if you let them. Uncertainty
will always be a part of your existence, but perseverance and mindfulness
will never fail to see you through to the other side of hardship where joy
can thrive. Try and remember that no matter what life places at your feet,
there is absolutely no situation that cannot be resolved with time, love,
and friendship.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:38:12 -0700
From: Deborah Berman Santana <santana@mills.edu>
Tibet nationalisms & "How Asians and
Westerners Think Differently"
Aloha Pete,
I'm familiar with the Tibet situation, and understand why the Dalai Lama
does not advocate independence. Unfortunately, on a visit to Puerto Rico
he tried to lecture Puerto Ricans about being happy about their "relation"
with the US, and criticized independence supporters. This did not sit well
with Puerto Ricans, even those who are not independence advocates. As a
result, opinion in Puerto Rico is sharply divided over the current Tibet
crisis.
I didn't get the impression from the Dalai Lama's remarks while in Puerto
Rico that he had any understanding of our history, let alone the various
reasons for overt and hidden support for independence and the reasons
behind support for statehood. Nor did he mention anything about our being
a Latin American and Caribbean nation.
The point of all this, I guess, is that an understanding (or not) goes
beyond dualistic thinking; one also needs to have some detailed knowledge
of the specific historical context.
un abrazo boricua y solidario,
Deborah
-------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:11:53 -1000
From: Lc <palolo@hawaii.rr.com>
back in the early 1990s, when the dalai lama was in hawaii and presented
at the waikiki shell to a standing room only crowd (we were up at the back
fence and there was absolutely no place to sit or walk, except along the
paved area against the fence), he said something similar. as i recall, it
was something like "don't worry about politics. the best thing to do is
to maintain and practice your culture", or words to that effect. back
then i remember a lot of hawaiians were pissed off. over time, however,
we began to see that practicing ones culture IS political, so in a sense
he gave us good advice. lc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:02:52 +1200
From: Clarke <tepaatu@gmail.com>
ePanui - Issue 4
From Ngati Rananana... __._,_.___
[ Part 2: "Included Message" ]
From: TangataWhenua.com [mailto:panui@tangatawhenua.com]
Sent: 22 April 2008 12:48
If you are unable to view this file, please visit our website -
Whakatau mai ra e nga rangatira, e nga hapu,
e nga whanau katoa.
Today we share in grief the sadness of losing dear loved
ones, intimate family members, cherished friends. They will
forever hold a treasured place in our hearts, as we smile at
those special moments shared, at the personal experiences
enjoyed. To the whanau of Alex Philips, Mahinarangi Tocker,
to Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Floyd Fernandes, Tom Hsu,
Anthony Mulder, Tara Gregory, Tony McClean, to the Mutu
whanau and the whanau and friends of Marie Davis and finally
to Roger McGill, we here at TangataWhenua.com and RANGIKAINGA
extend our collective condolences and sincere wishes of
support.
Haere. Haere. Haere.
[41poppy.jpg] In a week symbolised by sacrifice and loss,
Anzac Day 2008 itself remains a potent binding series of
moments, shared by a nation, creating a people. The losses,
it is often said, were as large as the commitment and
resistance on those fateful days of conflict, spanning many
generations now, but enduring as a living legacy today. It
wasn't until I visited Gallipoli back in 1994, to see the raw
landscape and the jagged peaks, that I was fully awed by what
this day meant, to all those involved. Our small whanau will
be joining in the Dawn Parade this Friday here in Rotorua -
6am, St Faiths Church, Ohinemutu. We will remember them...
[41pols.jpg] Some also say the silly season is now upon us.
My passion is politics and the involvement of Maori at all
levels in an active exchange of dialogue, opinion and rights,
so yeh, I'm pretty excited.
So let's recap, we have 121 MPs in Parliament in our House of
Representatives (positively, one more than anticipated), with
Helen Clark leading the largest coalition group to form the
Labour-led Government of New Zealand. As leader and Prime
Minister, Helen Clark seeks to return the Labour Party back
into office for a 4th consecutive Parliamentary term, but at
current polling, could lose all to the opposing National
Party, as led by John Key. The current issues at debate are
taxes and the economy in general, crime and social order, the
Electoral Finance Act, integrity of leadership, housing
affordability, health, medicine and healthy lifestyles and
foreign affairs.
[41pols2.jpg] And at the kainga level? Well, we currently
have 7 Maori Electorates who have representatives working
tirelessly on their constituents' behalf and a proud 22 Maori
MPs within the House of Representatives. They represent a
diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and ideologies and
some will be returning to contest this coming General
Election. We wish every candidate good luck. Actually, while
I have the mic, the issues I have been hearing around the
marae zip relate to land and land trusts, economic futures
and leadership potential, joint venturing and partnerships,
education, supportive whanau initiatives and Australia - the
land down under is definitely the place to be. Government is
still looked at as an intrusive, colonizing device and talk
of a Maori Super Bank is equally being looked at
suspiciously. Same with the Treelords Deal, as many whanau
and hapu remain outside this supra-iwi settlement plan, while
the corporate takeover of historical claims sets in motion
another round of Treaty of Waitangi-based grievances. My
opinion remains that all settlements should rest with the
mana whenua and not with slick negotiating teams nor dodgy
non-mandated groups; this story, however, is still being
written.
[41earth.jpg] We would like to acknowledge those whanau who
share both Maori and Chinese whakapapa and extend respect to
all genealogies.
This panui is now being read simultaneously in 50 countries
around the world and in over 500 marae across the country. To
you all, we thank and welcome your presence. We would like to
announce the arrival of our daughter, Hiona, and wish happy
birthday to all who celebrated life this April, this month is
particularly special for us as Nikolasa and I celebrate our
10 year anniversary.
We also had the good fortune of attending the first day of
Hui Tuakana here in Rotorua, a weekend gathering of
pioneering direction, exciting ideas and innovative
discussion. This extended on from the Hui Taumata held back
in 2005. We will be bringing you a thorough report from this
important wananga soon and would like to thank Luke Rikiti
and Katie Waaka for inviting us along.
TUANZ As a plug, TUANZ and Agile are hosting
Telecommunications Day in Wellington on May 8th. The breakup
of Telecom's line-monopoly could mean major opportunities to
the entire telecommunications industry but will Maori again
be followers or this time be leaders? We're trying to gain
entry (its $1120 for one entry if anyone would like to
sponsor a poor, struggling Maori reporter?) and will keep you
updated on the info-tech sector. Thanks to Mana magazine and
Qiane Corfield-Matata for the wonderfully positive coverage
of the Google Maori Project, we're now close to completion,
will undertake verification and related discussion, before
launching nearer Matariki 2008, we'll be sending your invite
to your inbox soon. It's time to put down those winter
annuals and prepare those spring bulbs, also heard the
rainbows are biting in Lake Wakatipu and finally, the
countdown to Te Matatini 2009 has begun? well, in our whare
at least. Again, many thanks for reading and we hope you
enjoy Issue 4.
Kia whai kororia tatou ki te Atua
I runga, i runga rawa
Te maungarongo ki te whenua
Me nga whakaaro pai ki te tangata katoa
Amine.
Submit stories or community events for TangataWhenua.com
[email.jpg] potaua@tangatawhenua.com.
Managing Director: Potaua Biasiny-Tule
Administrative Director: Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule
TangataWhenua.com ePanui Web Site:
http://www.tangatawhenua.com/rangikainga.htm
[email.jpg] panui@tangatawhenua.com or
[phone.jpg] 021 250 3521.
RANGIKAINGA Indigenous Media Network Ltd.
acknowledges a Creative Commons License 2007 on all intellectual
property
provided in this ePanui (newsletter) and on our website.
http://www.emailbrain.com/ [eb_pow_spacer.gif] Subscribe to this
newsletter [eb_pow_spacer.gif]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:16:10 -1000
From: keala kelly <keala.kelly@gmail.com>
Subject: light bulb info-- in case you don't already know
Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
The incandescent light bulb was downright amazing when it was invented in
1809 by Humphry Davy. Nope, it wasn't invented by Thomas Edison -- that's
just another American history lie, much like the stories about Christopher
Columbus "discovering" America and being some sort of upstanding hero. In
truth, he and his men were butchers who committed numerous atrocities
against the Native Americans (see The People's History of the United
States by Howard Zinn). Note that the U.S. government continues to
celebrate Columbus Day every year -- a fitting holiday for the only nation
in the world to have ever dropped nuclear bombs on a civilian population.
Twice.
U.S. history is largely a collection of politically convenient lies, and
the story of the invention of the light bulb by Thomas Edison is just one
of many such distortions. Read the timeline of the history of the
incandescent light bulb here: http://inventors.about.com/library/inve...
Unfortunately, very little has changed about the light bulb since the turn
of the 20th century. The device still wastes 95 percent of the electricity
it consumes. And thanks to a deliberate design by manufacturers to
encourage repeat sales (i.e. they are deliberately engineered to burn
out), light bulbs still burn out after about 1,000 hours, requiring
consumers to toss them into the garbage and buy new ones. (It's true:
Light bulbs were invented in 1991 that last 60,000 hours, but companies
refuse to mass produce them, since repeat sales of light bulbs would
plummet. The bulbs sold to consumers today are designed to self-destruct.)
Incandescent lights are a safety hazard (glass shards, anyone?) and an
environmental hazard, since they produce massive carbon dioxide emissions
from the coal power plants used to power these bulbs. They're incredibly
cheap to purchase up front, but astonishingly expensive to use over time.
A typical incandescent light bulb is ten times more expensive to operate
than an LED light bulb. It also produces ten times as much carbon dioxide
that contributes to global warming. Want to warm the climate? Turn on the
lights!
So why, then, are so many people still using incandescent light bulbs?
Primarily because they have no idea what it costs to actually operate
them. The fact that these light bulbs are secretly slipping dollars out of
your pocket every time they're used seems to go unnoticed by most
consumers. All they see is the price tag at the store. And there,
incandescent lights look really cheap.
The $500 incandescent light bulb
But what if the price of the light bulb at the store included the entire
cost of the electricity needed to actually power the light bulb? If that
incandescent light bulb actually lasted 50,000 hours like LED lights do,
the cost of buying the bulb together with all the electricity needed to
power it would be a whopping $500!. Would you pay $500 for a light bulb?
Of course, incandescent lights don't last 50,000 hours. They last only
about 1,000. Which means you have to buy fifty bulbs, replace them fifty
times and throw fifty burned out bulbs in the garbage, all while still
paying nearly $500 in electricity anyway. In other words, paying for
50,000 worth of light from an incandescent light bulb actually costs MORE
than $500!
That's no bargain. Not by a long shot. Especially when a $100 ten-watt
LED light bulb can operate for 50,000 hours using only about $54 in
electricity. (We're assuming 10 cents per kilowatt-hour for these
calculations. Folks in California are paying a lot more than that, but in
some states, it's less...)
Would you rather pay $500 for light, or $154? If you love overpaying for
stuff, and destroying the environment, and piling more garbage onto
landfill, then keep buying incandescent light bulbs! They will raise your
electricity bills, fill your trash with shards of glass, use up natural
resources and accelerate global warming faster than any other light
source on the planet today.
Are Compact Fluorescent Lights the answer?
But what about CFLs? Everybody's crazy about CFLs all of a sudden, it
seems. People know that CFLs use only about 1/3rd the electricity of
incandescent lights. Of course, they flicker and hum, and they take a
long time to warm up, but they do save on electricity compared to the
extremely inefficient incandescent light bulb. So what's not to like
about CFLs?
Mercury, for one thing.
All fluorescent lights contain mercury, period. It's the dirty little
secret of the CFL industry. This is mercury brought into your home, and
if you break a fluorescent light in your home, you are releasing a
powerful neurotoxic heavy metal in your home! Birth defects,
neurodegenerative diseases, developmental disorders, dementia... these
have all been linked to mercury exposure. It's not even debated in the
scientific literature. Even doctors readily admit that mercury is
extremely toxic to the human body. (Dentists, of course, remain in
bewildering denial and continue to place mercury fillings into the mouths
of children, seemingly oblivious to the neurotoxicity of this extremely
dangerous heavy metal...)
There's enough mercury in a single fluorescent light bulb to contaminate
7,000 gallons of fresh water.
I cringe to think about how much water could be contaminated by the
recent fluorescent light giveaway programs hosted by big box retailers
like The Home Depot, which gave away an astonishing 1 million fluorescent
lights containing approximately 3 million mg of mercury (that's a
whopping 3 kilograms of mercury!). And on what day did they choose to
distribute these toxic light bulbs all across the country? Earth Day, of
course! (It would all be rolling-on-the-floor hilarious if not for all
the deformed babies that will probably result from widespread mercury
contamination of our environment...)
So why are people rushing out to buy mercury light bulbs and place them
in their homes? Because no one told them about the mercury, that's why!
Of the hundreds of consumers I've talked to about this issue, very few
(less than 4%) were aware of the mercury in fluorescent light bulbs.
Sure, it's printed in microscopic text on the packaging of CFLs, but
nobody reads that.
So most consumers keep on buying mercury light bulbs and bringing them
right into their homes and communities, oblivious to the extremely
hazardous materials found inside each light. I launched www.EcoLEDs.com
because I wanted to provide an eco-friendly alternative to toxic CFLs and
wasteful incandescent lights. My aim is to educate consumers about the
advantages of LED lights and make them so popular that even Wal-Mart
starts selling them, putting my own company out of business.
I will only consider EcoLEDs.com a meaningful success when LED lights are
sold at mass merchandisers and incandescent lights become a thing of the
past. I hope The Home Depot stops giving away toxic fluorescent lights
and starts selling LED lights instead.
Isn't it interesting how the U.S. government requires Energy Saver
statistics to be printed on washing machines, dryers and other household
appliances, but NOT on incandescent light bulbs (which are, by any
measure, the least efficient household appliances of all)? I think we
should start with mandated labeling that shows the lifetime cost of each
bulb sold at retail so that consumers can start to see the different in
the total cost of ownership right there at the point of purchase.
That would, for the first time, make consumers acutely aware of what it
costs them to operate a light bulb, not to even mention the cost to the
planet.
But can people do math anymore?
Of course, all this requires that consumers can actually follow basic
math... or even read labels, for that matter. And given the fact that
even many high school graduates today are functionality illiterate (and
mathematically inept), there will always be a few stragglers left behind,
buying incandescent light bulbs along with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese,
Doritos and Diet Coke. These are the ignorant masses that can't read
labels, don't understand math, and are primarily interested in surviving
to their next paycheck. Ultimately, if we are going to save our planet
and human civilization from self-induced climate change chaos, we are
going to have to do something about our public education system, too.
Why are we teaching high school students useless geometry theorems while
neglecting to teach them how to read labels while shopping at the grocery
store? Why are we teaching algebra but not how to estimate a 10 percent
waiter's tip in your head? Our public education system is a massive
failure, and if it weren't for the courageous sacrifices of the
front-line teachers, counselors and school workers trying to make a
difference, we would have no functional education system at all. It's
time for massive reforms in this country; both in public education and
energy usage. Changing light bulbs to LED lights is one of many ways to
start making a different right now, but accomplishing it requires that
the population can grasp concepts such as total cost of ownership.
Here's a joke for ya: How many lawmakers does it take to change a light
bulb?
Answer: Only one, but there has to be a corporate sponsor to pay for it
first.
Learn more about the total cost of ownership of light bulbs at:
http://www.ecoleds.com/PR03.html
Permissions to use: Want to use this cartoon? Specific, limited
permission is granted to reprint in any book, movie, website, magazine,
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courtesy' conditions:
1. Cartoon creator Mike Adams must be conspicuously credited.
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the cartoon in a conspicuous manner. If on the web, the link must be
clickable.
3. You may not use this cartoon in a disparaging context or manner.
4. You may not charge for this cartoon.
5. Truth Publishing retains all ownership, rights and copyrights.
6. Reprint rights may be revoked, without notice, on a case by case
basis, if reprint courtesy is, in our opinion, abused.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Sid Shniad
Sent: Apr 22, 2008 8:53 AM
Subject: [CLR-Endorsers] ILWU May Day Poster
[ Part 2, Image/JPEG 336KB. ]
[ Unable to print this part. ]
Post: CLR-Endorsers@lists.mayfirst.org
List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/clr-endorsers
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Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:07:49 +1200
From: Clarke <tepaatu@gmail.com>
Healing With Movement
------ Forwarded Message
From: "Artemis Goldberg" <panthertracker@myself.com>
Healing With Movement Rediscovering Dance
As children, most of us were encouraged to dance on a regular basis,
freely and openly, in whatever way felt best. A few of us may have
retained or regained our ability to engage in dancing unselfconsciously,
but by the time we reach adulthood, many of us have stopped dancing
altogether. We may have hang-ups about our bodies, or we may fear being
judged. Then again, we may simply have fallen out of the habit for so long
that we don't even realize we never dance anymore. Whatever the case,
there's no time like now to rediscover the healing pleasure of moving your
body to music-alone, as part of a couple, or in a group. Opportunities to
dance abound, once you start looking for them.
If you haven't danced in a long time and feel too self-conscious to start
in a public situation, find some time alone to reintroduce yourself to the
joy of listening and responding to music with your body. Turn the lights
down low and remember that it's much more fun when you're not thinking
about what you look like. It won't take long before your body remembers
how much it loves to move. Feel the music in your soul, feel the
vibrations healing your body. Treat the time like a meditation session in
which you agree to allow yourself to fully inhabit your amazing body.
If you feel awkward, remember that every culture since time immemorial has
celebrated life and the body with dance. All people carry the memory of
dance in their blood and bones. In other words, you were born to do this,
it is in you already; all you have to do is start moving. If you prefer
more interaction, take a class one night a week. In most cities, you can
find everything from modern dance to African dance to ballroom and salsa.
Whatever you choose, you won't regret choosing to rediscover your
birthright-the healing, joyful thrill of dancing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:18:36 -0500
From: nimchira <tepaatu@gmail.com>
Voices Health/Environment News
News from the Health and Environmental Communities.
Published since Nov, 2005
April 22, 2008
In This Issue:
First contact to earthquake zone
An ambitious plan to drill into a Japanese earthquake zone yields its first
results, generating 3D images of faults.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/7353866.stm
Skin cancers on the scalp or neck are more deadly than those elsewhere on
the body, a large study suggests.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/health/7359212.stm
Brain damage link to cancer drug A common cancer drug may cause brain
damage for years after the treatment ends, research suggests.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/health/7360127.stm
VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal Emails Show
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042208M.shtml
Indole-3-Carbinol Nutrient in Broccoli Protects the Heart, Balances
Cholesterol http://www.naturalnews.com/023081.html
America's Role in Haiti's Hunger Riots-Truthout contributor Bill Quigley
reports: "Riots in Haiti over explosive rises in food costs have claimed
the lives of six people. There have also been food riots worldwide in
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivorie, Egypt, Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico,
Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042108R.shtml
Health Care Crisis http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042108T.shtml
Doctors Pressured to Downplay Workplace Injuries
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/042108LB.shtml
Bush's Child Health Policy Violated Law
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/042108HA.shtml
Study confirms Parkinson's-pesticides link
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2008/04/18/eline/links/20080418elin027.html
Are you toxic? Two families take the test. A flurry of new research shows
that some chemicals from food and household products are seeping into our
bodies. While many are harmless, others may be downright toxic.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11660/3057/14715/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tc25iYy5tc24uY29tL2lkLzI0MjMwMjQ2Lw%3d%3d&x=da483868
Forecast of rising waters paints bleak future for S. Florida coasts. Under
conservative predictions of a three-foot rise in sea level, high tide
would wash daily into downtown Miami by century's end. At five feet, the
sea would swallow much of the Everglades.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11660/3057/14721/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5taWFtaWhlcmFsZC5jb20vbmV3cy9taWFtaV9kYWRlL3N0b3J5LzUwNDU2NC5odG1s&x=ecea3d89
Alberta courting water crisis. Alberta could face critical shortages of
water if it approves proposals that would allow fresh water from the
province's rivers to be sold for uses other than agricultural.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11660/3057/14726/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy50aGVnbG9iZWFuZG1haWwuY29tL3NlcnZsZXQvc3RvcnkvTEFDLjIwMDgwNDIyLldBVEVSMjIvVFBTdG9yeS9OYXRpb25hbA%3d%3d&x=3cd11768
Mississippi River debris spilling into lake.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11660/3057/14733/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ub2xhLmNvbS9uZXdzL3QtcC9mcm9udHBhZ2UvaW5kZXguc3NmPy9iYXNlL25ld3MtMTAvMTIwODc1NTI1ODMxNjIyMC54bWwmY29sbD0x&x=77a18816
F.D.A. identifies tainted heparin in 11 countries. A contaminated blood
thinner from China has been found in drug supplies in 11 countries, and
federal officials said they had discovered a clear link with 81 deaths in
the U.S.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11660/3057/14738/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ueXRpbWVzLmNvbS8yMDA4LzA0LzIyL2hlYWx0aC9wb2xpY3kvMjJmZGEuaHRtbA%3d%3d&x=857b52fc
Arctic ice melting fast in summer sun. New Arctic sea ice is now so
perilously thin on average that it melts under the sunshine of clear
summer skies it once could survive.
http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/11663/21497/14740/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy50aGVzdGFyLmNvbS9zY2llbmNldGVjaC9hcnRpY2xlLzQxNjkwMQ%3d%3d&x=ca7fef9b
=======================-----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:35:09 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
Guam: Perennial protester Norbert F. Quinata
dies in car crash
Norbert Quinata is a familiar face in the community and is usually seen
standing by the roadside holding signs protesting various issues. Photo by
Paul Bla
Norbert Quinata is a familiar face in the community and is usually seen
standing by the roadside holding signs protesting various issues. Photo by
Paul Bla
Guam News
Wednesday April 23, 2008
Perennial protester Norbert F. Quinata dies in car crash
By Zita Y. Taitano
AN investigation has been launched into the island's latest traffic
fatality involving a man known by many for carrying signs protesting the
government.
According to Officer Ray Quintanilla of the Guam Police Department's
Highway Patrol Division, shortly before 1 a.m. the driver of a Toyota
Camry heading north along Route 1 near the Asan Catholic Church
apparently lost control and struck a concrete utility pole head on.
GPD Spokesman Officer Allan Guzman said the man was found to be
unresponsive when officers and medics arrived. The man was transported to
Naval Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival at around 1:45 a.m. He
was identified yesterday morning as Norbert F. Quinata, 54, of Talofofo
but originally from Umatac.
Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola performed an autopsy on Quinata
yesterday afternoon and said he would not be able to determine the cause
of death pending the results of toxicology tests he had conducted. The
results should be done by this afternoon.
Quinata is a familiar face in the community and is usually seen standing
by the roadside holding signs calling for the federal investigation of
several island leaders. He was arrested by federal authorities more than
a year ago after he allegedly claimed there was a bomb in a vehicle
parked in the parking lot of the U.S. District Court.
Quinata's death marks the island's fourth traffic fatality for 2008.
Police continue their investigation into the incident to determine if
speed and/or alcohol were factors.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:17:06 -1000
From: Rainbow Healing Arts <info@rainbowhealingarts.com>
Subject: May Specials!
Come celebrate with us the entire month of May as we honor women and the
mother within. While many of us are biological mothers, all women are
nurturers, and as such, we all deserve special celebration!
Featured Sessions
Women, enjoy as many sessions as you wish this month at the following
special rates*:
Heaven and Earth $20 Savings ($160) is a two-on-one personalized 1.5
hour session which may include Reiki, Swedish Massage, Lomilomi,
Craniosacral Therapy, Lymph Drainage and therapeutic grade Essential
Oils.
Stones and Hands $10 Savings ($90) incorporates the use of warm river
stones into a 1.5 hour Swedish massage to deeply relax your body and
bring you into more perfect balance.
Raindrop Technique $10 Savings ($60) is a gentle, non-invasive technique
which uses therapeutic grade essential oils along the spine to correct
spinal defects and enhance overall health.
One Hour Sessions of Reiki, Massage, Lomi, Craniosacral or Lymph
Enjoy one session this month at $5 Savings ($55).
Gift Certificates
Gift Certificates for those new to our services are available for all the
above sessions with no limit to the number of sessions purchased. Even
better, when you purchase any gift certificate, you will receive a $5
coupon for use at your next session (Gift certificates cannot be combined
with other specials or packs).
For more information about our sessions, please visit
www.rainbowhealingarts.com
We dedicate our work the month of May to our mothers, Joy Natoli of Boston
and Frances Edwards, in Spirit.
* Plus General Excise Tax (4.5%)
Rainbow Healing Arts
Medical Grade Essential Oils & Classes
Reiki Treatments & Classes
Craniosacral Therapy - Lymphatic Drainage
Swedish Massage - Stone Therapy - Lomi lomi
Kathy Edwards and Liza Delin
www.rainbowhealingarts.com
www.youngliving.com/hioils
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