Senator Akaka has announced that he will not be running for reelection at the end of his current term. For his years of service to the Islands, we thank him and bid him a fond farewell. However (and you knew this was coming, didn’t you?), the fact that Senator Akaka is a nice old guy [...]
Hawaii’s splendid isolation has contributed so much to the character of the islands. Our island paradise owes much to it, as does our culture of family and “aloha spirit.” On the other hand, those on the mainland have only the slightest acquaintance with the political and social issues we struggle with, and it’s easy for [...]
Lest it be said that all I do is criticize the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, I will direct your attention today to a thought-provoking study they’ve just released on Native Hawaiians in Hawaii’s criminal justice system. I won’t give it my unqualified seal of approval–after all, the term “disparate treatment” in the title implies a [...]
So, how often do you like to kick back and watch a little Pacific Network Internet television? Yeah, me neither. But would you make more of an effort if you knew that they were getting nearly a million dollars from OHA for the creation of a “Hawaiian-themed internet television station and web portal”? It kinda [...]
It is, I confess, too easy to mock and criticize politicians. Maybe it’s the endless weighing of polls and legacies and that finger held constantly to the wind. Or maybe it’s the obfuscations, the justifications, and the ill-considered legislation. But politicians do have to think about a lot of things that most of us never [...]
When you’re Hapa, you get used to people playing, “guess the ethnicity” with you. Especially on the mainland. (In Hawaii, the game is generally much shorter. In part because one of your cousins will inevitably walk by and put an end to things.) I actually don’t mind it though. I’ve always liked the way that [...]
The Heritage Foundation has released its 2010 Index of Dependence on Government, and you will be unsurprised to hear that American dependence on government programs continues to grow–especially in the health and welfare sectors. Now, I will be the first to admit that, when confronted by a bevy of charts and words like “index” and [...]
Yes, that Kellogg. Or, more accurately, his charitable legacy, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. It’s Grrrrrreat! It was recently announced that Chaminade is the lucky recipient of a $200,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation for a program that will help promote racial equality and healing (their words, not mine) through . . . er . . [...]
June 11 was Kamehameha Day. Kamehameha’s greatest accomplishment 200 years ago was to unify all the Hawaiian islands under a single government. But now once again the Akaka bill in Congress threatens to rip us apart along racial lines. The Kingdom founded by Kamehameha was multiracial in all aspects. John Young (Englishman) was so important [...]
E Pluribus–What?
By Jere Krischel E pluribus unum. Present on the Great Seal of the United States since 1782, its meaning is both simple and profound – “Out of many, one.” Originally it may have been but a literal acknowledgement of the Union of the thirteen colonies, but as the years have gone by it has become a philosophical premise which [...]