As wonderful as life can be in Hawai’i, our systems of property and politics have resulted in housing becoming a luxury for too many in our community. Pastor Tim Mason of Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church in ʻĀina Haina has been on the frontline for twelve years. It can seem overwhelming, but through faith and a holistic approach he has found a way to keep open to helping many, cheerfully.
Angel Network Charities is one of the ways the Calvary by the Sea community directly assists. The church has other programs for emotional support. They also have programs for environmental action. Little wonder that it has been my church home since I was in the 2nd grade.
If you haven’t seen or read Diana Kim’s photo essay on Honolulu’s homeless, finding her father among them, it’s a beautiful example of what Pastor Tim describes in conquering fear.
Only two months since our first show, Palaka Politics’ Millennial Evolution, Asami Kobayashi and Cameron Sato are on their way (pending fundraising) to Philadelphia as official delegates to the Democratic National Convention. We all had a great time imbedded in a steep learning curve at the State Democratic Convention last weekend. Click the link, enjoy getting to know two excited, smart and hardworking young progressive political activists. And if you can spare a little kala to help send Kobayashi to Philadelphia, click HERE.
Just click on the arrow and watch. It’s classic Jon. We show a clip from 1982, when he and Randy Borden were playing on the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace where he and scholar/poet/athlete/daughter Jamaica will be playing tomorrow. And thanks, Jamaica, for coming up with the “Hawaiian Dumbledore” sobriquet.
Jon reflects on the gains won through steadfast commitment and sacrifice by generations of Native Hawaiian activists and their supporters. He asserts the preeminent role of artists in animating humanity to embrace the changes required for our survival. Then he shows us how it’s done, by playing beautiful music.
Join us at ‘Iolani Palace Saturday May 14th, 2016 around 1 pm to hear Jon and Jamaica muse and music. Arrive at 11 am to get in on all the activities of the first Manu o Kū festival. Wear a nature costume. Bring a picnic, or purchase freshly baked pizza from The Garden Oven food truck. It’s one of those events you’ll still be smiling about next week, and next year.
Rene Tillich is one of those quiet currents running beneath the surface in our town; energetic juice in the emotional mycelial layer. For more than forty years, his clinic, King Kalakaua Center has been providing the space to cultivate peace and harmony at the core of people’s lives. It is hard to be really effective out there “in the world” when home base is a battle ground or desolate wasteland. We all know sparkle corrodes if not addressed. Tillich gives some theory and practical stratagems for romantic rust prevention and removal. He gets into a couple of the biggies of mature relationships; infidelity and empty nests. Enjoy this rare “public” appearance from a Harvard and Berkeley (in the 60’s!) trained octogenarian psychologist.
In the summer of 2012 I had the life altering privilege of participating in the 5 day ‘Ai Pono Ola Pono (healthy eating – healthy living) Huaka’i to Kaho‘olawe Island with ‘Ahahui O Nā Kauka, a gathering of Native Hawaiian doctors, nurses, farmers and other health and food practitioners.
The purpose was to strengthen the connection between healthy local food systems and improved health and wellness outcomes for clinicians. That’s where I met Katie Kamelamela. Then a Botany graduate student at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa; she impressed me with her intellectual, scientific, Hawaiian cultural and physical strengths.
A couple of months ago I wrote about her remarkable profile as a Na‘i Aupuni candidate. Friday March 18th at 3pm HST on Think Tech Hawaii she and I will be talking about her experience as a participant in the recent Na‘i Aupuni ‘Aha. Her voice is clear and compellingly holistic. Watch our livestreamed program to hear a future for Hawai‘i from a refreshing voice.
If you don’t know who the Merrie Pranksters are, it’s worth a click. Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) invited Alice Anne Parker to join the Pranksters on the bus, because they needed someone sober to look after the money. These first 77 years of her life have been an extraordinary trip of focused discipline and clarity, presented with well dressed humor and sparkling compassion. She charmingly refuses to bow to limiting and hypocritical conventions of female existence. Her startlingly honest experience of academia, single-motherhood in the 60’s, illegal abortions, and astrological counseling for infertility made for a wildly fun show.
Alice Anne Parker’s website , latest book, and email: aliceanne@aliceanneparker.com
Somehow I omitted the diagram below in illustrating Dr. Sahtouris’s explanation of evolution from a biological perspective. And just maybe there was serendipity in that. The core idea, is humanity like all living things, is still evolving. We find ourselves in an immature stage of the process, where competition and conflict continue to wreak havoc. If we don’t annihilate ourselves or the planet in the meantime, at some point we will evolve to a more mature phase of evolution, based on cooperation.
As you watch this octogenarian biologist, notice how much energy she has. She has not been to an MD in 36 years. She did go to a local healer in the Greek village she was living in after being attacked by a donkey several years ago. Her water bottle on Friday was spiked with raw turmeric, ginger and black pepper. Which I must try. I might have had as much energy as she has when I was in my 20s. After the show we went together to celebrate the 100th birthday of Jean Erdman Campbell. Dr. Sahtouris said she has no intention of living to 100.
Jean Erdman Campbell (Mrs. Joseph Campbell) photo credit: Tim Sprowls
Once I drove six hours to attend a dance workshop with Jean. On her 100th birthday, she gave me a lei. photo credit: Tim Sprowls
Jean, a avant-garde dancer and Hawai’i native, had a kind of beatific presence. It made me weep. Something made me go to her and touch that precious 100 year old hand. When I did, to my astonishment, she gave me one of the lei she was wearing.
After the birthday party it was on to Manoa Valley Theater for a stage performance of Harold and Maude. At the end of the play, Maude celebrates 80 years of exuberant living by dying on her own terms. Instantly I though how grateful I was that Elisabet Sahtouris and Jean Erdman Campbell had not made that choice. Yet Maude’s choice I respect and admire. I haven’t had a chance to talk to my friend Lala Buzzell who played Harold’s vapid mother outstandingly, but I’m dying to know what kinds of discussions were had over the months of preparation and performance about Maude’s choice. Why in the United States is there stigma about individuals wanting to control how and when they depart this life?
For the same immature reason we think a very few people have the right to mandate forced chemical injections into the very fragile living systems of human babies to protect the population at large– knowing that a certain percentage of them will be damaged for life or die? Yes, I’m back to Elisabet and our discussion on vaccines. Those of you who want to do the research, here is a handy site with links to Hawaii State 2016 vaccine bills. I don’t like this site’s inflammatory language, but it is handy. In relatively few words, here’s some pretty objective reasons the bills should not pass. This information is from the linked site.
There is No Compelling State Interest. There is no public health emergency or compelling state interest that justifies forcing vaccination by violating the right to freedom of conscience and personally held sincere religious beliefs.
High Vaccination Rates, Low Vaccine Exemption Rates.In the 2013-2014 school year, the CDC reported[51] that an estimated 99% of kindergarten children in Hawaii had received five DTaP shots; 98.7% had received two MMR shots and 99.2% had received two varicella zoster shots, (The CDC excluded Hawaii’s rates in the 2014-2015 report[52]) The CDC also reported[52] only 754 students had religious vaccine exemptions in the whole state, giving Hawaii the distinction of having one of the highest vaccination rates in the country along with low vaccine exemption rates.
Low Infectious Disease Rates. According to the CDC, in 2014 Hawaii had a pertussis incidence rate of 7 per 100,000 persons (38 pertussis cases)[53], one of the lowest in the nation. Also according to the CDC, during the past year, Hawaii has had zero cases of measles[54] reported.
Vaccine Manufacturers Have No Civil Liability. The 1986 law partially shielded drug companies selling vaccines in the U.S. from civil liability and, in 2011, the US Supreme Court completely[61] shielded vaccine manufacturers from liability[61] for FDA licensed and CDC recommended vaccines. There is no product liability or accountability for pharmaceutical companies marketing federally recommended and state mandated vaccines that injure Americans or cause their death, which makes flexible medical and non-medical vaccine exemptions in vaccine policies and laws[62] the only way Americans can protect themselves and their children from vaccine risks and failures.There is No Compelling State Interest. There is no public health emergency or compelling state interest that justifies forcing vaccination by violating the right to freedom of conscience and personally held sincere religious beliefs.
From the Facebook comments it seems we are not evolved enough to have a reasonable discussion. I’m not going to waste more energy on it. I’m not going to have more children. My niece who is having babies, knows better. I’d rather spend what time I have left doing things like dancing. Maybe I’ll start planning my moonlit death scene–or at least the soundtrack. My sweetheart has his planned already, but then, he’s more evolved.
If there’s anyone you still need to reach out to, or if you’re looking for something fun to get a New Year resolution for healthy living off to a great start, Lisa Kimsey of Smarty Dance Hawaii, and Laura Margulies, creator of Leimation ecards and evites have answers. Both Lisa Kimsey and Laura Margulies have become arts entrepreneurs, that’s a good trick in Hawaii. These women are admirable and encouraging examples of pursuing their passions, doing meaningful work, and contributing positively to the community.
Living in the same neighborhood for a long time provides a richness of shared experiences from another perspective. We three, having grown up in, and returned to, the same neighborhood, had a great time chatting about things we did and did not remember. That’s another gift of year end holidays. Reconnecting and celebrating in real time, savoring a pause in timeline updates to notice, without notification.
PS At the time we taped the show, Leimation were somewhat limited for social media. That bug has since been squashed, they are now sharable anywhere via URL.
The biggest perk of being a volunteer host on ThinkTechHawaii.com is that I get to share with the digital universe some of the wonderful people, organizations and happenings in our community. The Outdoor Circle is expanding into new territory with two new branches, one in Waikīkī. Myles Ritchie tells us how we can calculate the benefit of the niu in your back yard, or any tree you can measure the circumference of and identify.
Hawaiʻi Is My MainLand 
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