June 30, 2004

Ten Places That You Want To See Before You Die ...a travel book on blogger....

Im posting this today in honor of Thomas of Where Centuars Dare and his great tour of Italy...It's my friend Monica's dream destination and we have several friends that rave about it.

I started this post about a month ago and thanks to the new Blogger I can work on these things ad infinitum... (Thomas, help me , I know so little latin its pathetic)...it has become the monster post that ate Blogger...

Ready to go on holiday????

I saw and read this article on MSN listing 10 places the author though that we should see before we die... Well I will post her list here with my commentary

<em>By Patricia Schultz & The Staff
Updated: 7:07 p.m. ET Dec.16, 2003
Excerpted from 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, Copyright © 2003 by Patricia Schultz. Used by permission of Workman Publishing Co., Inc., New York. All Rights Reserved.
December/January 2004 Issue -

Tossing aside the obvious, we narrowed it down to the 10 that really got our motors running.


JAISALMER RAJASTHAN, INDIA

Known as the Golden City, this former caravan center on the route to the Khyber Pass rises from a sea of sand, its 30-foot crenellated walls and medieval sandstone fort sheltering carved spires and palaces. So little has changed here that its easy to imagine yourself back in the citys early days, in the thirteenth century. Jaisalmers wealth originally came from the heavy levies it placed on camel caravans passing through, and merchants and townspeople built handsome havelis mansions elaborately carved from the local golden stone. Its the only fortress city in India still functioning, with one quarter of its population living within the original walls.
Details: Six hours by car from Jodhpur. Stay in the Narayan Niwas Palace, a former caravansary built by the maharaja in 1840. Doubles from $48 (low season) or $60 (high season); 011-91/29922-52408, fax 011-91/29922-52101, www.narayanniwas.com.
Best times: October to February.

I thought that this was cool,and there is quite a lot to see in the region. Go south and visit the Taj Mahal, and the huge game preserve there that has some of the last Tigers in the wild in India...I would like to spend a month there and get into Mumbai to see the micro diamond cutting centers as well

HIGHLAND GAMES
BRAEMAR, SCOTLAND

Begun in the Middle Ages as county fairs for the exchange of goods and news, these summer sporting events gave clan chiefs the chance to check out the physical prowess of the areas most promising young lads. Of the nations 40-some annual gatherings,the ones at Braemar are the most renowned.(Queen Elizabeth usually pops in from Balmoral Castle.) A breed of gigantic men called the Heavies engage in throwing the hammer, putting the stone, and the prime event, tossing the caber in which they hurl a 20-foot tree trunk weighing over 130 pounds. Expect bagpipes, bright tartans, Highlands dancing, and a nip of whiskey to help things along. Details: Held the first Saturday in September, in Braemars Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park. Tickets are $20 to $36; 011-44/1339-755-377 (phone and fax), www.braemargathering.org.

I could spend a year in Great Britain as I think it would take that long to do and see everything I want to do. This doenst get me as charged up as just roaming the country side does. I have so many friends there that I would dearly love to visit as well

GIANTS CAUSEWAY
BUSHMILLS, ANTRIM, NORTHERN IRELAND

The grand and astonishing Giants Causeway on the northern coast of the island is made up of more than 40,000 volcanic basalt columns,each a foot or two in diameter. Most are hexagonal, but some have four or five sides, and others have as many as 10(and reach as high as 40 feet).If modern day visitors are struck with wonder at the sight, imagine the disbelief of the ancient Irish, who attributed the geological wonder to the fabled giant Finn McCool. The warrior was said to have created the Causeway as a bridge to his lady love on the Scottish island of Staffa. We now know it was formed by volcanic eruptions some 60 million years ago. Hopscotch along the columns, or marvel at the Causeway from the clifftop belvederes.
Details: 75 miles northwest of Belfast; 011-44/28-207-31855, fax 011-44/28-207-32537, www.northantrim.com.

As I said above on the Highland Games, Oh to be in Britain (and Ireland,)now that spring is here!...

MOSCOW METRO
MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Dont even think about leaving Moscow without exploring the Metro. Its the least expensive subway (about 25 cents) youre ever likely to ride, but it delivers a lot more than a safe trip. The first stop of the 150-station system was completed in 1935, and the older the station, the more elaborate the decor crystal chandeliers, gold leaf, mosaics, faux Roman statues. (The most interesting stations are Maya-kovskaya, Kievskaya, and Komsomolskaya.) Some escalators are so steep, going so deep, that youll think youre descending to the center of the earth. While rush hour isnt recommended for claustrophobes, others may find it provides the most insightful moments. And they said New Yorkers were the champions at scowling and avoiding eye contact!
Details: For information in the U.S., contact the Russian National Group, 212/575-3431, fax 212/575-3434, www.russia-travel.com.

I would do this, but it didnt make my top 10, St. Petersburg did, and I long to do that!

CHA CA LA VONG
HANOI, VIETNAM

Cha Ca La Vong serves only one dish—cha ca a succulent fried fish masterpiece, the recipe for which has been in the Doan family for generations (the name translates roughly to curried Red River fish). After more than seven decades, cha ca became so entrenched in Hanoi that the city renamed the lane out front in its honor. A rickety flight of wooden stairs leads to the unremarkable second-floor dining room, full of equally rickety chairs. Patrons cook chunks of seasoned garoupa fish on a charcoal clay brazier, stirring in chives and dill. The rich, oily stew is then spooned into bowls of vermicelli rice noodles and enlivened by the addition of shrimp sauce, fried peanuts, and pickled vegetables. The secret ingredient, if you believe the rumors, is two drops of an essence extracted from the perfume gland of the ca cuong beetle.
Details: about $5; 14 Cha Ca St., 011-84/4-825-3929.

This sounds flat out disgusting...My sense of adventure is just not that well developed. Skip Vietnam and opt for Thailand currently the hottest foreign destination for Hawaii residents, unless you love the beach, according to the Surf Dogs here in Hilo, some of the best surfing in the world is to be found off those pristine beaches near Hue, and if you can eat spam and rice you are ok food wise...

CHUUK LAGOONS
LOST FLEET CHUUK, MICRONESIA

On February 17, 1944, American Task Force 58 engaged in Operation Hailstone, dropping over 500 tons of bombs on the Japanese navy. Today, Chuuk Lagoon (also called Truk Lagoon) holds the wrecks of 60 Japanese ships, the largest concentration of sunken ships in the world. The 433-foot Fujikawa Maru is the most famous, an aircraft carrier that sits upright in 30 to 112 feet of water, a gaping torpedo hole in her side. A combination of warm water, prolific marine life, and lagoon currents has acted as an incubator, transforming the WWII hulks their guns, trucks, silverware, and sake bottles left undisturbed into artificial reefs.
Details: Most air connections to Chuuk are via Guam. Stay at the Blue Lagoon Dive Resort. Doubles from $130; 011-691/330-2727, fax 011-691/330-2439, www.bluelagoondiveresort.com. Dive operator: Blue Lagoon Dive Shop. Two-dive boat trip, $95 per person; 011-691/330-2796, fax 011-691/330-4307.
Best times: January to April.

I have seen film footage of this and it is a diver's paradise. also if you love being in a remote place with a good book and a bit of suntan lotion this is great. Quiet, with very little development. If you listen carefully you can hear the drone of Allied Bombers in the back of your mind's ear...."

EL QUESTRO WILDERNESS PARK
KIMBERLEY, AUSTRALIA

El Questro is the ultimate outback experience: a million-acre working cattle ranch in the middle of Kimberley, just a dot on the map of massive, sparsely populated Western Australia. Explore the propertys many tropical gorges or remote water holes, or go on a ranger led horse, foot, or four wheel drive trek to waterfalls, thermal springs, and Aboriginal rock art. Theres a fancy hotel, with suites, cantilevered over the Chamberlain River, but those whose wallets dictate Fosters instead of champagne can choose one of El Questros three less expensive lodging options including camping sites under the stars.
Details: One hour by air from Darwin. Suites start at $603 per person per night (with all meals and most activities), bungalows sleeping one to four people are $147, tented cabins for two run $90, and camping is $8.50 per person; 011-61/8-9169-1777, fax 011-61/8-9169-1383, www.elquestro.com.au. Closed November to April.

Here's another place I'd love to go. Give me the bungalow with a place to sit at night and watch the stars... sound like heaven?... Kimberley has another attraction for me, a few hours away is the Argylle and Rio Tinto group mines, that produce the worlds most beautiful natural colored diamonds, ever see a pink diamond? Amazing, Id love to go there...

STURGIS MOTORCYCLE RALLY
STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA

For one week in early August, the town of Sturgis (population 6,400) hosts Americas largest motorcycle rally, now attracting well over a half million people. Begun in 1938 by the local Jackpine Gypsies, the Black Hills Motor Classic grew over the years into a bacchanal drawing gangs of self styled outlaws. In the late 1980s, the city partnered with the Jackpine Gypsies to civilize the event, and today law and order prevail. Baby strollers are not an uncommon sight which is not to say that the saloons and tattoo parlors dont still do a brisk business. Wannabes and diehards alike partake in the hill climbs and concerts. Downtime is spent admiring each others bikes, marveling at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame, or eating at the Road Kill Cafe favorites include Chicken That Didnt Quite Cross the Road and the daily special, Guess That Mess.
Details: Sturgis is 24 miles north of Rapid City. City of Sturgis Rally Department: 605/720-0800, fax 605/720-0801, www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com.

This, to me, sounds like hell and the forces of hell on earth, I'll pass thanks.

MERCADO DE HECHICERÍA
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA

At La Pazs Witchcraft Market, proud chola women sit among their goods like queens, unfailingly wearing two braids festooned behind them and bowler hats adapted from the British many years ago. What they sell herbal tea fusions, folk cures, coca leaves, figurines, snakeskins, slabs of llama lard to be burned in offerings to the gods, and amulets to guarantee a long and happy sex life. The market has lately begun to accommodate the growing number of gringo curiosity seekers, and booths hawking colorful alpaca sweaters and woven textiles do a brisker business than the vendors pushing dried llama fetuses.
Details: Held daily, on Calle Linares between Calle Santa Cruz and Calle Sagárnaga.
Best times: April to October.

More hell. Notice they didnt discuss the altitude. La Paz is like 12,000 ft up..? If the magic potion for a happy sex life doesnt get you oxygen depravation will, no thanks

DIVING WITH MANTA RAYS
TOBAGO, LESSER ANTILLES

Divers are flocking to the island of Tobago for the chance to swim with monster manta rays. A dozen or so giant mantas, 6 to 10 feet wide, live in the Batteaux Bay area, some year round. Divers may have to settle for a sighting of the creatures, but most will be able to interact with them. The friendly mantas encourage divers to hold on for a ride a practice that once earned them the nickname Tobago taxis. Todays more sensitive approach is to merely swim in their presence.
Details: Stay beachside at the Manta Lodge, a dive resort with a PADI facility. Doubles begin at $95 (low season) or $115 (high season); 868/660-5268, fax 868/660-5030, www.mantalodge.com.
Best times: November to April.

Tobago is stunning, and a beautiful destination, the beaches have this post card quality that just beg for an afternoons repose under a plam tree...

OK my friends my top 10 places that I want to see before I die or want to do before I die...Some I have already done on that list... and the dates are below..

1.Hawaii....Duh.....But I do want to go to Midway Island at the top of the chain. They used to have a resort there but it has been closed so we shall see...

2.Alaska. I took my Mom for an extended trip in 1998. We cruised up the Inside Passage (hat tip to Holland America Cruise Lines for the outstanding service and care we received. I could not have traveled with a disabled person without their help) We stayed for 10 days with Mom's college roomate friend in Anchorage and drove all over the area. Alaska in the fall, with a dusting of snow on the mountain tops and the golden leaves was so incredibly beautiful...I want to go back and travel through Denali Natl Park

3.Washington DC. Been twice, amazed both times by its beauty and grandure. I will never forget my time spent at Arlington National Cemetary. In 1993 ( on the tour) I spent one afternoon, When Woody and I went in 1999, we went on two visits as he was soooo enthralled by it. (We have traveled a lot and that to him was our best trip together, I think so too.)I shall include in this entry Gettysburg, PA, and the state of Virginia, and all the various sites there. If I could stand the pollen, wed might have moved there as we both loved it so.

4. New York City. I had wanted to go there for so long that I had maps memorized. Spent 4 days as a part of a packaged tour in 1993. This was one month after the first WTC bombing and did not go into those buildings... I regret that. Will forever have that skyline etched in my mind of that spring day as I sat on Liberty Island and looked at Manhattan. That night I took the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building and looked out over the city. It was so clear that you could see cities far in the distance, lights gleaming like earth bound stars. If you go there dont miss Ellis Island I was so impressed by the exhibit that was there of the personal items people broguth with them when they made the crossing to America. Most could only bring what they could carry. I found it touching.

5. The Grand Canyon. Been there many times, the last time in Sept 2001, during Woody and my "One Great Final Roadtrip" (Cause road trips get sort of circular on an island)...This area is one filled with memeories in my maternal family as a vacationing place, a place where they went hunting...Woody had never been there and we spent a day looking out over the rim as the light shifts and changes the colors on the rock below.

My best Grand Canyon story... I had an English Penpal come to the US in 1989, and he stopped in LA and we had dinner before he began his road trip. This man was a "Football" (soccer) player and a sometime soilder of fortune, He feared nothing, and was traveling around America with a back pack and a Visa card. So Mike asks me, "What should I see on the way east...?" I said "The Grand Canyon". Mike then wanted me to tell him about it. I told him that it would spoil the experience and he should see it for himself, and drew him a map. He caught a bus and managed to get there. He told me in a letter that he was totally unprepared for what he saw, because as many of you know, you can just sort of walk off the edge of the thing into this mile plus deep hole. He said that he grabbed the rail and peed his pants, and was agast. He managed to get a spot on a hike down and up and it was a high point of his trip. He was later he was killed in Gulf War I.

6.Ride the Silverton narrow Guage train from Durango to Silverton Colorado.
Also on the great Roadtrip of 2001. We had a month of time between leaving our jobs and leaving for Hawaii, so we got into my big ol car and drove east. We had a date in Angel Fire New Mexico, which I will devote a whole post to sometime, but in the aftermath of 9-11, no one was traveling so we had all the choices of hotels and attractions at our disposal. This train trip was a after thought that we were able to do as there were so many cancelations. I shot 6 rolls of film up and down the Animus Canyon, as the train climbed up to 10000 ft. The fall foliage was particularly wonderful and I can still smell the Cottonwood trees and coal smoke of the train as we chugged along.

7.Crusies-1992 Mexico aboard the RCCL Song of America
1995 Carribean aboard the RCCL Monarch of the Seas
1997 Mexico aboard the RCCL Song of America
1998 Alaska Aboard the Holland America Noordam

If you have never taken a cruise you dont know what you are missing. It doesn't have to be a fancy dress party and in fact a lot of them these days are devoted to themes, so if golf, fishing, or history is your game (or if gambling, drinking and 13 separate eating opportunites a day are for you) this is you vacation. Ladies, this is ideal vacation, they clean your room and feed you, you dont lift anything heavier than a fork if you dont want to!!! When I took my first cruise I described it to friends as summer camp for adults and it was...

8.Angel Fire, New Mexico and the "Enchanted Circle"
This was the final destination of the Great Road Trip of 2001. We originally had booking for one week and had airline tickets for the week of Sept 21 2001. Well two weeks prior to this the world changed forever, and our travel arrangements we scattered to the winds. Our airline tickes were canceled but we had longed to see this area that had been brought to life by the music of a fellow worship leader/musician/friend Fernando Ortega, so we got into the car and began to drive. For Woody and I this was the bonding time we needed prior to the Hawaii experience that you all are aware of and really our last "luxury all expense paid vacation." more on that at another time...

This area is a well kept secret. First, did you all know that there was a Vietnam Veterans Memorial other than the Wall? it was built at Angel Fire, by the father of a soilder. See it here

There is a Group of communities that call themselves the Enchanted Circle, We did take that circular drive, as well as go down into Taos several times, but it was the trip to Chimayo, Fernando's home town that was a high point. You know its one of those few places that I have been to in my life that was exactly how I had pictured it. It looked like I had stepped into a movie set of a spagetti western. It was amazing. The dominant structure was El Sanctuario The amazing church that is called the Lourdes of the America's for the healings that have taken place there. We also stopped at The Ortega's shop and the little house where his grandfather looked after him as his parents worked at the loom in the work shop...

I have seen the golden summer light
flicker in the trees
In the orchard where the long grass
sways in the breeze
In the shade accross the fence
an old man in a chair
Dreams of names and faces who've been there.

Lately I have seen you
Fading as the world is changing
as the seasons fly
Still my heart in secret
holds on to the deepest colors
of the earth and sky

In the greying of the year
when leaves and sunlight fall
Makes the shadows of the orchard
deep and tall
Then the Winter comes and covers
all that does not move
underneath the Sangre Christo stars and moon

But I will come and find you
when the Spring unbinds you
Singing of an older time
Still my heart in secret holding
to the deepest colors
of the earth and sky

"Chimayo"
by Fernando Ortega

Ever walked into a song? We did and I shall never forget it...


Ok So now I need to make up a new list. So here are the 10 places or things having to do with travel that I want to do before I die.

1. I want to go to England and spend enought time there to really see the country. See as many places as I can that I have always wanted to see. I have enough friends there that I could stay and atay and not over stay my welcome

2.Take a round the world cruise, or at least a trans oceanic, either Atlantic or Pacific. By freighter preferably.

3.Jerusalem... Where the air is so clear that you can see back 5000 years.

4.Tokyo...or Singapore maybe both...Woody was there both places during the war, he'd like to go back.

5. St. Petersburg, Russia Id need a month in the summer please!

6.Australia...Where in Down Under is still up for grabs

7.Africa, mostlikely South Africa.

8.India....

9.Cuba. I know the day is comming when I can go there freely. I want to take my mothers ashes there. She has longed for the place everyday of her life. After visiting the Dominican Republic in 1995 I know why...That, by the way is another GREAT Travel destination. If you like Mexico you will LOVE the Dominican.

10. I want to take another really long road trip and just drive across America and Canada. For months... I want to do this several times. I think it would be wonderful. Meeting people is such a great thing, learning about them...

PS we have to add another one...Woody want to go back to the land of his birth, Panama...(another story) preferably via the canal and a cruise boat, with an extention in country... We shall see.

So there you have it the longest blog post ever and thanks for reading...and as Tom Bodet says "We'll leave the light on for you."

Lets beFrank

Ok, I have found the perfect blog to cure the, "oh Lord, spare me Hawaii and wake me up and it will all have been a wonderful, scary, hellacious dream, and coffee and a orange cake donut will be waiting for me on the table in the pocket sized kitchen of my tiny like living on board ship little house in Bellflower..."Blues....

beFrank Coolshots

Hes a photo journalist that lives in LA. Friends, some of these pics make me cry with homesickness, others (like most of them) make me drop on my face and thank our Father above for seeing fit to deposit me in paradise, trials and all!!!Its a count your blessings wake up call that I need sometimes...Wonderful writing and the photos are grand. Get a view of the City of Angeles that you only thought that you knew from TV.

About the dounut. There is not a true cake dounut, let alone my fav orange juice flavored icing, in all of Hawaii. Malasadas and day old Krispy Kremes from Maui dont cut it... Dear Lord I could die for one. That and a cup of hot black coffee to me is culinary heaven. I think not having dounuts has contributed to the nearly 50 lbs that I have lost without diet and exercise, or decent medical care, since comming to Hawaii... Its the little things that add up isnt it.

June 28, 2004

The Outsourcing Myth

I worked in International Shipping, Warehousing and Distribution from 1985 to 1996. I saw the rise of Globalism, the inception of NAFTA, and worked accounts that are now the power houses of consumerism, such as Walmart and Dayton Hudson (Target)and Payless shoes...and some that are extinct like Montgomery Ward, May Co. and Members Only Outer Wear...

Then as now I still believe that we gain more than we lose by being willing to give up some jobs to advance productivity and gain better ones...I do think that its sad that some things are not made here that once were. Take Converse sneakers...Up until a few years ago they were made here...However the "unibody" construction and the materials that they are made from are hazardous to mix and assemble. WE in the US want our sneakers to never wear out and to be super comfy with all that padding and support...So all the work is outsourced to Malaysia, and now China. No regulations on the use of toxic plastics (dont do a Richard Read and light your shoe on fire you will die of the toxic smoke.) People getting burned by the machinery that assembles them, Im sure happens everyday. the workmen's Comp People were having a field day in North Carolina, along with the EPA People, So off shore we go...

Im sure that this is true with a lot of factory jobs, however...Im not so sure I like my tax returns being processed in India and you all know of my Computer debacle with Dell Manila telling me to dump my hard drive to save it...Sounds like war doesn't it...Dell is moving some of its help desk operations back to the US, maybe we could have a branch here on the Big Island???

Trade is the life blood of these Islands, and we have been really hampered by the Jones Act that restricts vessels calling here, and by certain business interests that really are not key players any more... thanks to our Senator Inoyue, that law ans its restrictions has been lifted and we will have a foreign cruise line with ships flaged in the US under US laws creating 7000 to 10000 new jobs here in Hawaii. WE have to think out side the box and embrace new ideas and develope new types of jobs for our people, Its going to involve retraining and doing something weve perhaps not done before...

To those that are unemployed, my heart goes out to you... I know too well the pain of not having a job, and the struggle to make ends meet. But the scapegoat of"outsourcing" is not the reason you are unemployed for the most part, its changes in the economy and the job market and how we in the US are choosing to do business.

Here is an article on outsourcing
From World Trade Magazine...I wish I had had access to this publication way back when, it has a lot of good stuff in it...


Exporting Tech Jobs Doesn't Hurt U.S. Trade
Alan Reynolds


Those afflicted with an irrational phobia about international trade used to confine their raving to manufactured goods, not services. But the United States is now said to be exporting high-paying service jobs to India, particularly in information technology. Worrying about U.S. companies importing services from India is a classic example of the journalistic inclination to ignore the forest and focus on a few twigs. The United States is by far the world's biggest exporter of services, just as the United States is by far the leading exporter of goods.
The United States accounted for 18.1 percent of worldwide service exports in 2001, according to the WTO, up from 17 percent in 1990. India accounts for only 1.4 percent of world service exports. India is in 21st place among world exporters of services and in 30th place for goods. India is running a trade deficit of about $8 billion, and that country's imports rose 20 percent in 2003. China ranks fifth among world exporters of goods (although China accounts for 11 percent of U.S. imported goods), and it has a small and dwindling trade surplus. China's imports rose 40 percent in 2003.

The United States had a $64.8 billion trade surplus in services in 2002, despite economic stagnation in Europe and Japan. Services accounted for 30 percent of all U.S. exports and 43 percent ($3.1 billion) of U.S. exports to India.

Worrying about job changes among computer professionals is yet another example of the journalistic inclination to totally ignore any facts about the big picture and instead generalize from small and local anecdotes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes these allegedly vanishing jobs among "computer and mathematical science occupations"-i.e., computer programmers, software engineers, systems analysts, support specialists, network administrators, etc.

In 1999, there were 2,620,080 jobs in these computer-related professions at an average wage of $26.41. In 2002, there were 2,772,620 such jobs at $29.63 an hour ($61,630 a year). Figures on that specific job group are not available for 2003, but professional business service payrolls were up 2.3 percent by November, when compared with the year 2000, and jobs in information industries were up 4.9 percent.

The notion that service jobs are being lost to India is paradoxical because similar complaints about China or Japan invariably involved disparaging U.S. service jobs as "McJobs"-inferior to working with a sewing machine or wrench. In the case of India, however, even the most menial computer service chores-such as tech support and handling health insurance claims-are now being glorified as "high-wage" jobs. Past stories about "exporting jobs" also assumed those jobs had moved to countries with trade surpluses, such as Japan and Germany. But India has a sizable trade deficit, and it even had a deficit in services until 2002.

Trade phobia has lost any sense of direction. The United States is now said to lose jobs to countries with trade deficits as well as to countries with trade surpluses, and to lose jobs in services as well as manufacturing. Some even suggest the United States will lose most service jobs to India and most manufacturing jobs to China. But without jobs, how could Americans keep buying all those imports?

A New York Times report claimed India is attracting a lot of direct investment from multinational corporations. Yet Morgan Stanley reports: "Private corporate investment (in India) is estimated to have declined to 4.7 percent of GDP in 2003 from 9.6 percent in 1996."

The United States has always imported and exported services as well as goods. So what? Even if we ignore this country's huge and growing dominance of world service exports, it would still be delusional to speak of importing services as equivalent to exporting jobs. The notion that "exports create jobs" (every commerce secretary's favorite slogan) is neither more nor less true than the idea that imports create jobs. Work is involved in all creation and marketing of goods, services and financial assets. Work is also involved with the extra investment resulting from a net inflow of foreign capital, otherwise known as a "current account deficit." Growth of employment is related to growth of the economy, not to imports or exports or the gap between them.

If the United States was really losing more jobs than it was gaining, then employment would be falling. But employment is rising. There were 138.6 million civilians with jobs in November, up from 136.5 million a year earlier. The number of U.S. jobs doubled in fewer than 40 years. If the rapidly expanding number of jobs were inferior to the ones that preceded them, then incomes would be falling. But incomes, too, are rising.

The media blitz about imported goods or services resulting in the best jobs being relocated to some variable list of countries-first Japan and Germany, now India and China-has never been anything more than unadulterated hogwash.





Alan Reynolds is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and has been a frequent contributor to such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the American Spectator, National Review, and the Harvard Business Review.

So the next time someone pounds you on the job thing...you have a bit of ammo...Information is the best preventative against the plague of ignorance...

June 27, 2004

Even In Bagdad, Jesus is the Light of the World

I was sought out by those who did not ask for Me
I was found by those who did not seek Me
I said "Here I am,Here I am!"
To a nation that was not called by My Name..

Isaiah 65:1

We look at the news, and see what is going on in the Middle East, and say to ourselves... How will this change? How can these misled from the cradle, people be renewed and brought to a place where they dont want to kill wontonly for the sake of their eternal future?"

You give them a choice and another option...

The Middle East has for the most part been closed to missions and evangelistic work for a thousand years, with only a few brief gaps, and small populations of indigenous Christians, such as the Copt, Marionites, and Orthodox

These poor people, are held in bondage to evil regimes in the natural and the spiritual world. Its horrible. They have no hope on the inside spiritually, which makes the outer day to day life that much more unbearable. They act out with the least provocation at whatever seems to be the problem or at whoever they are TOLD is the problem.

Islam, is a demonic religion that is based on the false pretense that you can some how earn your way into a blessed after life but commiting fiendish acts here on earth, and treating your fellow man (and woman and children )like dirt. When service is not the basis for social existance, then progress is not possible. That is why European Western Europe rose above fuedal barbarisims that still seem to grip the Oriental world. The civilising factors of sacrifice and service are absent in Islam and other oriental religions.

I heard the story of the Jesus Is The Light Of the World Church in Bagdad, Iraq this week and thought that I would post two write ups on it and give you this link to become a penpal to an Iraqi there. I must tell you that this could be a very important endevour, this penpal thing. I fully believe that the ASSIST ministries Bridge of Friendship pen pal project that linked up ofer 1 million Russian and Eastern Europeans to American and Canadian penpals was a major factor in the dissolution of the Evil Empire of Communism. You can't continue to hate people that you really get to know. You see that the decadent Americans are the same as you and how can you hate a friend? Slowly the walls came down inwardly, then outwardly.

This can happen in the Islamic World as well. We see even in the blog world how by communication, many have changed their minds about radical Islam to embrace a more peaceful mindset. Yes its only a few, but its a start.

Stories of God at Work

C&MA Church in Baghdad Reaching Iraqis for Christ
Its a full house at The Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Baghdad, Iraq. Regular worshipers have learned to arrive early for a seat in the crowded sanctuary, where believers and seekers are packed together on every bench. Those who come later stand in a semicircle around the perimeter of the room, and the overflow crowd spills into the corridor. This is no special event but a weekly service at this vibrant Christian center. Hundreds of people come to hear the good news that God loves them and sent his Son to die for them.
The vision for a C&MA church in Iraq began during the Persian Gulf War. A Lebanese church leader took relief teams right into Baghdad. As a result, hundreds of Iraqis who had fled to Jordan came to know Jesus Christ. Among them were men who received biblical training and discipleship. Today, they lead congregations of believers throughout the Middle East.
One of these pastors gave his heart to Christ after hearing this church leader preach in Jordan. Later he felt called to full-time ministry and attended Bible school in Beirut for three years before returning to Baghdad. Because of the oppression of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the man was unable to open an evangelical church. Instead, he and his wife operated a nursery school where a small group of Iraqi believers met during the weekend.
Within a week of the fall of Baghdad last year, this church held its first open meeting. It had only 70 chairs available; many who attended had to stand. Later, the church acquired a two-story facility in central Baghdad. We have made the tallest cross in all Baghdad with the name of the church underneath it along with the words Jesus is the light of the world, the pastor said. Several days later, a threatening note with the name of a local organization was left at the church. Immediately, the pastor went to the headquarters of this group to talk about this message. His boldness was rewarded by the leaders, who told him not to worry about the note.
There are plans for the Bible school in Beirut to open a branch campus in Baghdad. According to the pastor, 20 Iraqi men and women have applied. Twenty two Iraqis are now taking classes. Teachers from the school will travel to Baghdad for modules of training during a two-week period.
Unexpected problems have surfaced. Many church groups are coming to Baghdad, and they want to start their own churches, the Lebanon leader said. Because they neither have followers nor any idea where to start, they are running after the people I have taught for 12 years. So far four families have left. One group offered the C&MA pastor thousands of dollars if he would let them claim the work he is doing. We realize there is a harvest field here. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom to know how to deal with other groups.
A spirit of unity seems to be breaking out among evangelicals in Baghdad. After the open-air ordination service of an Alliance pastor, a C&MA minister (who had traveled from Jordan for the event) invited leaders of the city’s evangelical congregation to a meeting. They recognized the need to work together in witnessing about Jesus and discussed the possibility of forming an evangelical synod.
In the meantime, the C&MA church continues to thrive. As many as 500 people fill the church each Sunday.

And this mention in Agape Press
...An Iraqi pastor says his Baghdad church is thriving despite concerns about next weeks transfer of power and the continuing lack of security. Rev. Ghassen Thomas says his Jesus is the Light of the World church is only about a year old -- but already has 450 to 500 Sunday worshipers, 300 children in Sunday school, five services a week and daily prayer meetings. Thomas says visiting the United States has shown him that many Americans are praying for his country, and he has been able to report all the good things that U.S. troops are doing in Iraq. There is anxiety, though, as a new Iraqi government prepares to take over. Thomas says the future with us is uncertain, but adds that Christians in Iraq have found the real peace with Jesus Christ. [AP]


and from World Help Ministries

Iraq Ministry Update



Iraq Ministry Update: God is definitely working in Iraq!



I have just returned from the Middle East where I met with our Egyptian Bibles for Iraq project director in Cairo. He had just returned from a week in Iraq where he was overseeing the distribution process of the New Testaments we are providing. He told me that their convoy had been fired upon by terrorists . . . thankfully, they were not hit, but it was a close call.



I was planning a trip into Iraq this week, but he strongly advised against it at this time. I have tried 3 times to get into Iraq, and every time, I have had to cancel my trip because of the extreme danger. He not only told me it was too dangerous for me, but it would put our Christian friends and leaders in danger as well. Once again, I had to postpone the trip. I was discouraged, but I knew I had to wait on Gods timing. And obviously it is not His time!




However, I was able to meet with one of our key partners, Iraqi pastor Ghassan Thomas. Pastor Ghassan pastors the largest evangelical church in Baghdad. A normal attendance is 500 on any given Sunday morning . . . 200 believers and 300 seekers.



He told me that he had recently put a sign up in front of the church in Arabic, Jesus is the Light of the World. This was the first Christian sign or billboard in Baghdad. A few days later, some militant Shiite Muslims put up a cardboard sign in front of the church saying, Jesus is not the Light of the World. Mohammed is the Light of the World and we are warning you.



Pastor Ghassan responded in kindness and took his Muslim neighbors humanitarian aid of bandages, medicines, and gifts, and asked them if they respected the Bible. They said, Yes, so he gave them all a New Testament. He also asked if they respected Jesus as a prophet, and once again they said, Yes. He turned to John 8:12, where Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Amazingly, these militant Muslims said, We are sorry, we respect you and want to be your friends. It was a God moment.



God is using Pastor Ghassan to build bridges in this war torn nation.



He also told me that he spends one day each week discipling pastors and Christian leaders in the training center in downtown Baghdad that World Help is helping to provide. He said the he would like to start another church in western Baghdad as soon as possible. Many people who are receiving these New Testaments are reading, studying and wanting to know more about Jesus Christ.


I also met a Christian leader working behind the scenes and underground in Egypt to help with the church-planting efforts in the Middle East. He told me he had been beaten, imprisoned and even hung upside down and tortured because of his faith. In Iraq and all of the Arabic speaking Muslim countries, when a Muslim converts to Christianity they are disowned by their families . . . all ties are broken. Sometimes family members even call the police. According to Islamic law, a person has 30 days to come back to their senses and back to Islam. After the 30 days, if they have not done so, it is lawful to kill them. Some new Christians dont even tell anyone that they are believers. Most have to leave home and family and move to a new city and start a new life.



I also received some very encouraging news . . . even though the U.S. is officially handing over control of the government on June 30, we will still be able to distribute the New Testaments.



In a few weeks, I am going to the country of Jordan. This is our staging area for the massive Iraq project, and I will have the opportunity to meet with all our partners. Since it is too dangerous to go into Iraq at this time, several Iraqi pastors will meet me in Amman, Jordan. We will continue to make plans to reach Iraq for Christ. We already have 72 churches networking within Iraq.



I told you recently about the great need for a childrens home and feeding center for children whose parents have been murdered because of the bombings and terrorist attacks. The soldiers keep bringing them to the U.S. military base because they have nowhere else to take them. The need also encompasses the training center in Baghdad to train future church planters.



Since this need was made known a couple weeks ago, many of our World Help partners have already helped and we have raised over $42,000. However, we still need a little over $50,000 to complete the project. I want to hand deliver the money when I go to Jordan in a couple weeks to meet this tremendous need immediately!


God is definitely working in Iraq . . . and we want to join him there!



Will you help me with a one-time gift to provide this childrens home, begin a feeding program and to help train church planters? Please . . . time is of the essence! If you can help with this great need, please call toll-free at 1-800-541-6691

I see this going on and it gives me hope. The late Walter Martin, founder of the Christain Research Institute, a think tank on cults, false religions and "isms" used to say at the end of his radio programs, "Are you willing to do for the truth, what the cults are willing to do for the lie?"... I think that our military and our government has been willing to do the battle with the physical world, but we who are people of faith need to do battle in the spiritual world as well. Pray, and be ready to speak the truth regarding Islam. It is NOT a religion of peace, but a cult of violence and bloodshed. There can be no peaceful co-existance, no tolerance and no detante with this EVIL EMPIRE.

Islam is correctly described in II Timothy chap. 3:1-7

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Each and everyone of us must give account of ourselves one day. Let it not be said that we cowered before the scimitar of unholy, self serving, brutal islam , but stood for the values of freedom, service and human dignity. Pray for Brother Thomas and the people of faith he shepherds there in Bagdad. Those people are the light in a dark nation, and their courage is a light in a dark world.

June 26, 2004

Mauna Kea Views

We are having a bit of different weather... The sky is white like shining pearl,the sun shines through the clouds, bounces around, refracts actually and brightens the world...I feel like a flight of angels could swoop down... This is how I think heaven will be...It makes the water of the bay a blue grey green and rather than sparkle like it does on a clear day, its like dark marble with a glow from within. Colors are washy, like a watercolor painting that has faded from bright light...

In contrast to the brightness outside, its been dismal as far as sales are concerned at the store. I somewhat expected this, June and July are the worst months in this business, but the bills still got to be paid.

I have had a possible HUGE blessing tho, and I still have to wait and see how things will pan out. Douglas Glenn of Douglas Fine Jewelry in the Kona Village Resort, was in the shop this week. He has been a great supported of Azure Seas, and had gone to the old shop but saw that we had moved and people at the Cunningham directed him to our new location. He was very pleased with the look of the new store. When Woody told him of my plans to go to jewelers school in Ohio, he said "Wont that be a lot of money, I could teach you everything that you'd need to know. In fact, it would be great if I could have someone I could send people to get things repaired on this side of the island." He has a studio in Honokaa, up the coast about 1 hour from here I could go there one day a week and help him, and learn something, then work on things here once I get my bench set up. He also has a contact that may have a complete bench set up for sale...Sadly I think I know who that is, a fellow jeweler, a young man that was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. He's in Honolulu and is not expected to recover. Its tragic, but my buying his gear would help me, and relieve the family of having to dispose of it long distance and I help them out financially. All in all, this sounds good... I lost two sales yesterday, because I cant size things and I have two large custom projects that are simple yet I could make a lot of money doing them... Its a constant prodding forward toward this goal.

Should this happen, I save myself a ton of money, no flight to Ohio which while I love to travel I dread the discomfort and a bit of embarrassment that comes with being a large woman is a tiny airline seat. I dearly wanted the adventure of the trip though, and regret that I am not going. Maybe next spring, that might be a good use for the Merrie Monarch "no sales" week next April.

Woody is struggling with the guard job. He knows that either its the local thing ie everything is "tomorrow", or hes not getting hours cause hes a old white guy. We will be pretty much ok next month, when due to the way the pay periods fall he will get more hours, but over the long terms this is a slow painful financial death for us.

I cant seem to get him to look for another job. I don't understand the reticence. Rejection? I don't know. I would keep looking. But I am not him...I am driven by different motivations.

This pay period He had an extra day, and he got the gal in Kona to take a day off so hes working Sunday. Its a long week for him.

I am enjoying the time alone. The Kitties miss him when he is gone. I find all of their toys on the bed with me when Woody is not home. I don't understand why they do that...Is it an offering? a bribe..."We will surrender all of the catnip mousies if you tell us where he is???" I tell them not to worry and we all have a good cuddle and a catnip mousie hunt in the covers... It beats them biting my feet as I sleep!

I can report that my Mother is better but I wonder if she has had a stroke. I think something "else" is now wrong. I don't know. The medical reports don't show anything more than the relentless march of Parkinsons... However, her friends have demanded that the nursing home get her out of bed and dressed and into the dining room everyday. I think that has got to help. Maybe she has given up as some people think. Or its just that time is marching onward...I have only the experience of my Father's excruciatingly slow march to the grave. 17 years of disability, and the last year was the worst, when we all agreed the chemotherapy was worst than cancer. His mind was nearly gone then, maybe this is similar. I don't know...

I think my biggest problem is that I have too much time to think about things. I spend a lot of time thinking when I should be praying and working on stuff that needs to get done...

I am working on a business plan for the repair side of the business, I will be meeting with Kathy Hammes to start the work on setting up a separate business. This is exciting. Azure Seas is about to get a sibling!

A blog note. No Saturday Slant this week. Im not sure what is going on with Pariah Burke, but I hope that all is well.

June 25, 2004

Operation AC

In honor of Aloha Friday, I wanted to bring to my readers a way to show the Aloha to our troops on the sand pile. Operation AC was formed to ship air conditioners and other needed supplies to our troops in the Middle East. This wonderful work is the brain child of a Gi's Mom and her passion to help our troops that are giving so much of themselves.

America's Military buying machine is lost in the do nothing 90's and is still not geared up to war time, so our troops are lacking basics like boots, socks, gloves and toiletries as well as comfort gear like AC that allows them to survive the 120 plus noon temps in the desert. The private sector, who night after night see the news and say how can I help? This is a way.

Operation AC has contracted to buy boots at below cost, ship Air conditioners and supplies to the troops using volunteer and donated means to do this work. They also take requests from troops on their personal needs. Not once have they received a frivolous request.

You can learn more about it at Operation AC I will post the link on my site as well

To any service person reading this my heartfelt thanks for your service to our country!

June 24, 2004

The Honu of Kapoho

The trib is making my life easy this week with some stories worth telling for a change

Remember the honu (by the way Honu is both singular and the plural)Well some lucky folks down by where Mike and Claudia used to live have honu that have gotten into their ponds. The land is so low here that many people have natural or man made salt water ponds on their property that are refreshed by sea water at tidal intervals. Some ponds are "puka" holes or depressions in "Pahoehoe" or the smooth lava that flowed through here as recently as 1960. Some ponds are over steam vents and are warm and bubble like a boiling pot, but not nearly as warm. They often have schools of fish that permanantly reside in them and the snorkeling is delightful, and of course private as it is your pond!

Some Honu may have been swept into the ponds during a storm, some may have crawled into them, still others were "placed" there. Read on about these " very controversial "pets"...

Wednesday, Jun 23, 2004
Green turtles residing in Kapoho Beach lots


By DAVE SMITH
As any snorkeler can tell you, green sea turtles are frequent visitors to tidal ponds at Kapoho.

However, there are several turtles that most people do not see.

That's because the three turtles have been residents of several privately owned ponds around homes in the gated community of Kapoho Beach Lots for decades.

The 1978 passage of the federal Endangered Species Act made it illegal to injure or even harass green sea turtles, which are considered a threatened species.

But according to Paul Ortiz, an attorney with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, green sea turtles in captivity before 1978 are "grandfathered" under the law.

The grandfather clause applies only to threatened species, which means it would not include the hawksbill turtle, which is much more rare and classified as endangered.

It's not clear how the turtles came to be in the walled ponds in the first place.

Lenny Terlep, a conservation officer with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said their origin is a mystery.

"No one knows," he said.

All three of Kapoho's "resident" turtles have been tagged by wildlife officials for identification.

One of the turtles is in a pond at Kapoho Paradise Estate, a vacation rental property owned by the Yunis family.

Lynette Yunis said she doesn't know how the turtle named Arthurena came to be in the pond of the home she and her husband purchased in the 1990s.

George Balazs, a researcher with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu, examined them a year ago and found them in "reasonably" good health.

Balazs said that none of the three had any signs of fibropapillomas, tumors that can occur in some types of sea turtles. He called that significant because the disease -- often severely advanced -- is commonly found in wild green sea turtles in the Kapoho area.

But the good health has not always been the case with the captive Kapoho turtles. A necropsy conducted on one that died in 2000 found the turtle suffered from malnutrition.

Dr. Thierry Work, a veterinarian with the U.S. Geological Service who specializes in wildlife diseases, said the turtle suffered from hypothyroidism caused by a lack of iodine.

The ailment was apparently the result of being fed a diet consisting primarily of papayas.

"We think it just didn't have the proper nutrients," Work said.

Green sea turtles in the wild eat marine algae, or seaweed, which is naturally high in iodine.

Yunis said she was told of the necropsy findings and she rarely feeds her turtle papayas.

In 2001, Balazs, concerned about the possibility of further turtle deaths, asked Yunis to consider setting her turtle free. She declined.

Tuesday, Yunis told the Tribune-Herald that she believes her turtle, which is featured prominently on Web sites promoting the vacation rental, is safer in the pond than in the open ocean.

"I monitor what it is fed and the portions, and I believe that's why it is so healthy," she said. "I've been taking care of it the best I've been told to."

She acknowledged that while the turtle appears to enjoy interaction with humans, it lacks contact with other turtles.

"From a breeding standpoint, it would be better for my turtle to be set free," she said.

But she believes that the possibility the turtle could be exposed to tumors is justification enough not to set it loose.

"I really feel it would be a death sentence," she said.

She also believes that after such a long period in the pond, the turtle would not be able to forage in the ocean.

However, Balazs does not believe that to be true.

Attempts to reach the owners of the other two turtles were unsuccessful.

I say these are vagrants that should be allowed to stay with the property owners permission. After all they are Kama'aina.

The Other Side of Paradise part II

Here we go again on this...Criminal enablement at its very best!

Tuesday, Jun 22, 2004
Transient troubles


By HUNTER BISHOP
Jeffrey Mermel, president of the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association, estimates that six to 10 homeless people wake up in doorways of downtown businesses almost every morning.

Teachers at area schools, such as Hilo Union, regularly find homeless persons asleep on campus as they arrive. The homeless sleep in bushes, alleys, beaches and wherever else they can find a place to lie down.

Mermel agonizes over what to do about the problem. "What is our response if we don't want them in doorways? What is the right thing to do?

"Every town, as it grows, has to look this (problem) in the eye," he said.

Three downtown parks are where the homeless are most likely to congregate during the day -- Kalakaua, Mooheau, and Lincoln.

Rosalie Alderson, agent for the owner of the building that houses her spiritual wellness shop and Island Cantina Restaurant, is particularly troubled by homeless people. She said one with "obvious psychological damage" tried to order food, stole silverware, and disrupted restaurant operations before police were called recently.

A man named Andrew, who travels in a wheelchair, was constantly being picked up by police, she said. He'd exposed himself and made sexually inappropriate comments to her, and was found in her building naked and washing himself in the hallway. "The last time I saw him he was camping on the steps of the East Hawaii Cultural Center."

Police took him to the hospital. "They said he was psychologically sound," and he was released, said an exasperated Alderson. He's a veteran, she said, but received no help and caused trouble. Police said Andrew has since returned to the mainland.

Alderson also said she's been "fighting drug dealers" in Kalakaua Park since Dec. 31, when she opened Essential Alchemy, a spiritual wellness center on Kalakaua Avenue two doors down from the park. Alderson said her efforts have attracted little support from police and harassment from the homeless people she believes are involved in the drug trafficking she's trying to stop.

Police could catch drug dealers with undercover cops every day if they just came at the right time, Alderson said, and prostitutes solicit openly from the Elks Lodge steps and use the small park across Kinoole Street to conduct their business at night.

"You can watch them deal (drugs) plainly at 4 p.m.," she said. "I've watched the transfers happen. If I can see it, it's being done blatantly all over. In six months policing hasn't done anything."

But she also said that the drug-users have lookouts for police. And a frustrated police officer told her, "We bust 'em and they're right back out."

"We just go around in circles," said Lt. James Sanborn, head of the community policing program in the Hawaii County Police Department. In 1995 when the program started, the homeless were concentrated downtown. Since then, police have seen the homeless population spread to the surrounding neighborhoods and communities.

Community policing officers are reminded to be compassionate, and to ask themselves whether what they do is really going to work when dealing with the homeless, Sanborn said. "If not, we're going to have to start thinking out of the box."

Someone took a dislike for Alderson's attempts to roust drug-users and hookers, writing "Fat pig go home" in lipstick on her shop window, she said. "I just went over to talk with them. I'd like to get them the health services they need."

Alderson locked the bathrooms at the back of her building and removed an outdoor shower because they attracted vagrants from the park. She suggested that the Police Department assign an officer to walk a beat in the area to get a better handle on the situation, rather than rotating police officers through the area. "They keep exchanging these people."

Another homeless refuge is the Wallace discount theater a block away from Kalakaua Park, where rock-bottom prices have attracted low-income homeless people to the theater's comfortable confines. Theater management, which would not respond for comment on this story, recently established new rules for bags and other items that can be brought into the theater in an attempt to curtail drug and alcohol use following at least two incidents when police were called to quell violent disturbances by theater-goers.

Sanborn said the homeless are increasing, but most significantly in Kona, where some of East Hawaii's former homeless residents have gone. The Hilo population has remained relatively stable, he said.

And though the ranks of the homeless are being swelled by people from the mainland, most are longtime residents of Hawaii, according to a 2003 study by SMS Research of Honolulu. Thirty-nine percent of the homeless in Hawaii County say they are lifetime residents of Hawaii. More than half have lived in the state more than 20 years, and 56 percent are Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian.

Lincoln Park, which was renovated in 1999 with nearly a half-million dollars in federal funds earmarked for projects in low-income areas, attracts homeless who eat free meals at the Salvation Army across Ponahawai Street. Often the park crowd is divided between the moms and kids on the jungle gym equipment on the Kinoole side of the street, and homeless people occupying pavilions at the makai end of the park.

After the park was renovated, then-mayor Stephen Yamashiro, in a ribbon-cutting address, pledged the park would be alcohol-, drug- and tobacco-free.

Since then, limited police presence in the park curtailed some of that activity. But since the Police Department's D.A.R.E. program ceased using the park's substation office as a store for kids in the program, complaints and police calls to the park for unruly behavior, drug and alcohol use have increased, said Pat Engelhard, director of the county's Parks and Recreation Department.

"I have noticed a lot more vagrants," she said. Parents who bring their children to the park have complained about "people hanging around."

Groups such as the Big Island Press Club, which used to meet regularly in Lincoln Park, stopped going there within the past year after members were accosted.

Sanborn said police pressure on the homeless at Mooheau Bus Terminal, and on sidewalks and doorways of downtown businesses, have moved many of the homeless toward Lincoln Park.

"They have to go somewhere," Sanborn said. "The Salvation Army's doing things to help those people."

Engelhard said she gets complaints from Lincoln Park users about homeless people, but complaints from Kalakaua Park are getting more prevalent. At Lincoln Park, she said, complaints come from people with permits to use the pavilions that are occupied by homeless people who don't want to move.

In one case, a vagrant sleeping on a picnic table bench that was reserved moved only a few feet away when asked, then begged for food from the partygoers.

"All we can do is call police," she said. But most people don't call until later, "then they expect us to do something. They only complain after the fact."

Sanborn also recommends calling police. But police are also mindful of the fine line they tread. Otherwise law-abiding homeless people have just as much right to be in the park as anyone else, he said.

Sanborn said he's seen perhaps a slight increase in homeless activity in downtown Hilo, but nothing significant. Incidents that patrol officers have responded to in the park have been for minor disturbances, he said.

Meanwhile, "No-smoking" signs were once posted there, and should be posted again. It's a violation to smoke in Lincoln Park, he said.

Carol Ignacio, director of the Office of Social Ministries, which provides food, shelter and other services to homeless people, also said police are frustrated at the "constant windmill" of homeless people being arrested and put back onto the street because the justice and health systems cannot deal with their problems. "We're failing to treat them effectively," she said.

"They won't go to the (shelters) because they don't like the rules," Ignacio said. "People are falling through the cracks. It's a socialization issue."

Many actually have homes but suffer mental illness coupled with drug and alcohol problems. "We know who all the people are. There are only about a half dozen who actually cause trouble," she said.

"They are hooked up with mental health services or should be. They're not functional. You can't force them to take medication."

"For years we've had these spots where people congregate," Ignacio said. "The people at King's Landing, for example, are not homeless, they're houseless. They're comfortable. People go where they feel connected."

"The community dictates the law," Ignacio said. Her Care-A-Van workers used to make a regular stop at the Mooheau bus terminal to help the homeless. "We got nailed for perpetuating the lifestyle. We were giving them soap. It's a double whammy for us.

"If anybody is acting up, we're the first ones to call the cops." But she said police are discouraged and often not properly trained to handle mental health problems. "The police have their hands tied."

Slow responses by police called to homeless-related problems also bother business owners. "We don't want to be a nuisance with the police, but when we call we want them to come," says Jayme Woodall, co-owner of Island Cantina. "It's usually for a pretty good reason. They say it was worse before we came" in April. "We're trying to stay on top of it."

Ignacio said there are definitely more homeless people now. "The numbers are increasing among families. There are more ... marginal homeless, too," she said.

Because police are understaffed, ill-equipped to handle social problems, and frustrated by the system, it's understandable that they give low priority to such calls, said retired District Court Judge Jeffrey Choi. "Most (homeless) have mental problems. It's not easy to control."

Choi, who retired from the bench in 2003, saw homeless people come though his court by the hundreds. He said it's "remarkable" how many are homeless by choice. "There is a significant number who choose not to avail themselves of services, refusing offers of shelter.

"It's tough" Choi said. "The courts have been pretty good at telling them to take medication." Many refuse, however, and no one can force them. "I would tell them (in court) it's their choice, but if they're going to throw rocks at people, then I have to lock them up."

Nevertheless, the system amounts to a revolving door, Choi said. "It's frustrating." The state's mental health facilities can only take a small number, he said. "The rest are wandering the street.

"What's a police officer to do? The person's not a criminal but a pain in the butt for society."

Judges will get calls from the jail prior to planned prisoner releases, Choi said. "Every so often they open up the gates, let people out who shouldn't be.

"They'll tell me, so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so are being released. What can you do?"

Ignacio said the community needs to make a commitment to a solution. A problem as simple and troublesome as people urinating and defecating in public places takes a commitment, she said. "Are there public bathrooms? Where do you go?"

Mermel said the DIA is eager to find and implement solutions. "Three years ago the worst place was Mooheau Park," Mermel said. The DIA worked with county officials, police officers, and its own members to clean it up. Police patrols were beefed up, surveillance cameras were installed, bathrooms were closed at night, and plans are being developed to install more lighting.

The DIA also works with the Office of Social Ministry and mental health services on outreach programs to help provide needed services for the homeless.

Central Christian Church Pastor Rob Daley, who also chairs the Downtown Improvement Association's Public Safety Committee, said the DIA also has launched "Aloha Patrol." DIA members, police and prosecutors walk the downtown streets two to four nights a month. "Just the presence of people interrupts the activities that may have become habitual," Daley said.

"Our church was notorious" as a gathering place for homeless drug abusers, he said. Over the past couple of years, Daley said he has helped some of them stabilize their lives. "They started working on my side," he said.

Daley also said the end of Kilauea Avenue between Haili and Mamo streets has been declared a "Drug-Free Zone," where businesses and residents are vigilant to suspected illegal drug use and other activities.

But so far it's not enough. "We're working with the police for more presence," Mermel said. "We, as a community, have to lobby. We want to see beat officers on foot or on bikes. It's done in Kona, in Honolulu. When is it coming to Hilo?"

Mermel said the first step in solving the problem is to recognize it. "It's not going to go away. We can no longer be in denial." The other thing is for the community to "step up to the plate and tackle this with compassion and aloha."

The DIA is considering a proposal to build showers and bathrooms for the homeless in a "wet building" facility somewhere in downtown Hilo where the homeless could gather, shower, and eat in a relatively clean, safe and stress-free environment.

"The solution can't be a Band-Aid," said Daley. "It has to meet their basic needs."

"Our intention is to start somewhere," Mermel said. "The community has to make the commitment. I think we can do more."

Hunter Bishop can be reached at hunter@hawaiitribune-
herald.com

Here are some personal stories.. break your heart until you realized that each one of these people is a WANTED criminal with outstanding warrants for real crimes. Intens of arresting them and turning them over for extradition, we make celebraties out of them, and create some sick romatic notion of how free and wonderful the life style of tresspass is. UGGH (and no mention of the hate crime against Rosalie, but she is white and female so no matta)

Tuesday, Jun 22, 2004
Lincoln Park is a draw


By HUNTER BISHOP
Lorine Crider lay on her side, hands folded beneath her head for a pillow. Only a flattened cardboard box served to cushion the concrete floor of the main pavilion in Lincoln Park.

Homeless, frustrated and angry, Crider lifted her head long enough to scold a couple of children she thought were interrupting their mother's conversation with another person.

Crider, 47, moved to Hilo several years ago while on parole from a Texas prison. She wanted to be near her children and grandchildren, but they care little about her, she said.

"They help me sometimes with getting to doctors' appointments. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't. I don't see eye-to-eye with my son's girlfriend," she said.

Sometimes they bring the grandchildren to Lincoln Park where Crider sees them. "That's why I come here," she said. "I was hoping they'd come today."

Crider owns the typically haggard look and gravely voice that comes with chronic homelessness. While she might have gotten a job in Texas, she said it is difficult for a haole ex-con from the mainland to find work in Hawaii. She could return to Texas but would rather be near her family.

"Yeah, I want help," she said. "I get food stamps. (But) I have to apply again and again, every month. There's no transportation. Hawaii's f-----d up," she said, releasing tears of frustration.

"The police harass everybody," she said. "It makes a lot of people angry. It ain't right."

At night she will either walk back to a camp near Keaau, or "I stay here in town and walk around."

After dark, when the parks close, is often the toughest time. The homeless are vulnerable to thievery and violence. "One guy one time threatened to shoot me with a hypodermic needle," she said.

"It's very dangerous out here. A lot of people are homeless. It makes me sad. I go to my daughter's and I worry about the people out here ... ." Her worry then pulls her back to life on the street, she said.

"I have a lot of people make (dead), ... (from) pneumonia, drugs, no place to go." Yet police will ticket people they catch sleeping in certain places, she said. "It's very upsetting."

Crider, born in San Antonio, Texas, said she drinks but takes no other drugs and gets no financial help from the government. "I don't get no money."

"We need shelter," she pleaded, but not like the existing one. "That's uncool." The homeless just need a place where they could all just go to sleep, she said. "If I was rich I would have a big old place just for the homeless."

What about the future? "I don't know, Crider said. "Right now I just want to take this floor board over there to lay down and get rid of this yelling and screaming" from nearby children at play.

Silverfeather Wal-Raven, who walked over to Lincoln Park from the tennis courts across the street, sat down on the ground in a corner of the park with Crider. Wal-Raven was still fuming over the errant behavior of her partner, who was still acting up across the street. Wal-Raven was trying to calm down. She pulled a can of Natural Ice beer from her bag, popped it open and sipped. Crider gave her a cigarette.

"Same thing, every day," said Wal-Raven, 46. She's from a well-to-do family in Waimea that shunned her, she said, when she started drinking again after being in an automobile accident. That was three-and-a-half years ago; Wal-Raven said it's been more than two years since she's seen her daughter.

She drinks every day and doesn't take her prescribed medication because it often gets lost or stolen. When off her medication, "I want to isolate," Wal-Raven said. "But I can't because everywhere I go I get hassled."

"It's very bad for us. It's crazy," said Crider. "The police keep telling us where to go, then they tell us we have to get out. Then they ask, 'Why don't you just go home?'

"This is our home. We're not hurting anyone. We're not stealing because we know what it's like to be stole from," said Crider. "The young punks come and steal from us while we sleep."

Stephen "Jungle Boy" Levin approached excitedly and said he'd just been kicked out of a friend's house where he'd been staying. Levin, 25, who says he's wanted on burglary and theft charges in Oregon, has been "in and out of homeless situations" repeatedly since moving to Hawaii a couple of years ago.

Nonetheless, the lifestyle still holds some romantic appeal for Levin.

"I don't mind sleeping outside," he said. He eats handouts, fruit from trees and searches trash containers for food. "Sometimes I crave dumpster food," he said, "like good fermented potatoes."

He made an impression on local homeless folk when he fell out of a tree in which he was sleeping, in front of a group at Lincoln Park. This was shortly after he'd arrived in Hilo, and with that introduction he earned the nickname "Jungle Boy."

Levin skipped out on his probation in Oregon to "grow ganja" with a friend who'd started an operation in Puna. He ended up on the streets mostly because of his drug problem. "Pot, heroin, alcohol, ... now it's prescription pills." His biggest problem is dental care, he said, displaying a gap in his smile where a tooth recently came out.

How does he get money? "Sugar mamas," said the homeless Lothario.

In Honolulu there are day-labor programs, which Levin would like to see here. "I don't like filling out job applications, dressing up," he said. "It would be a total boon here, to have enough money for food, a sleeping bag, dog food."

Levin lives by a simple definition of happiness that "entails warmth and some kind of buzz." But he dreams of more, perhaps even going back to school. "There are lots of things I'd like to do besides sit in the park and drink beer," he said.

That said, he was off as fast as he arrived.

The homeless life is not one they choose as much as it is one they no longer can escape. Even something as simple as installing small, terminal-style lockers at the Mooheau bus station for the homeless, who must haul their belongings wherever they go, would help a lot, Wal-Raven said. To the homeless, little things like that count. "You put up with so much pressure, somebody is sure to come along and push your button," she said.

"We're just all trying so hard to stay out of trouble," Crider said.

Ironically, before the East Hawaii Coalition for the Homeless took over the former Hilo Hotel two years ago with plans to turn it into a homeless shelter, the homeless were already using the empty and abandoned rooms, said Wal-Raven. Now the homeless no longer use the hotel since the coalition cleaned it up and awaits the financing needed for the conversion.

"They need to make that place ... for the homeless," she said. But not a structured shelter like the coalition's facility on Kapiolani Street.

"I'll take my chances out here, first," Wal-Raven said. "We had that shelter. Why'd they close it down?"

Hunter Bishop can be reached at hunter@hawaiitribune-herald.com

I dont know where to begin. The noble DIA guy wanting to aid and abet them, to the guy wanted for robbery that is made to look like some romantic character, when really hes a male hooker and drug dealer that used to hang out near my old shop.

A guy got big and bad with Woody over on the Kona side cause Woody "wouldnt help him out." Woody said he told the guy..."look, Im two payments down on my house I have bills up the ying yang, I have to be away from my wife to have any sort of a job and you want me to give you money? HOw about giving me money..." He said that he pulled a DRG and was screaming at the guy... backing him down the driveway till he ran away...I know how he feels...

I bring this up to the blogging world that this is Hawaii. people come here thinking you can just live on the beach and eat wild fruit and everyone is one big Tutu and all is aloha. Truth is this is one of the toughest enclaves to break into and like that home less angry park sleeper...it hard..and no one gives a rip.

What do you all think? What happens in your city or area with people like this? What do you think I should do when I am harassed by these people because they think I have a lot when I fought for every bit of it. I will pass on the bits of wisdom, for we in Hilo need all the wisdom we can find...

June 22, 2004

The Other Side of Paradise

Here is a subject that really gets me boiling...Vagrancy. Thats right. I dont use the politically correct word "homeless" because a lot of these people want to live this way. They want to sleep on my property, relieve themselves on the stoop of my shop and terrorize my potentital customers...Here's the Trib's take on this

Monday, Jun 21, 2004
Homeless in Hilo - By chance or by choice


By HUNTER BISHOP
The problem with the homeless is that there are those who want help and can't get it, and those who can get help but don't want it.

With a steadily growing homeless population, society's capacity to help people needing shelter is being taxed far beyond ability in Hawaii County.

At the same time, a segment of the homeless population is living off meager government checks and the generosity of numerous charitable agencies to maintain a lifestyle that is homeless-by-choice.

A recent survey counted up to 1,300 homeless people in Hawaii County in 2003, up 89 percent in four years. But the Big Island has no more than about 200 beds where the homeless can find emergency housing, said Steve Bader, executive director for the East Hawaii Coalition for the Homeless.

But not everyone wants a bed in a homeless shelter.

A growing number of homeless people have given up seeking help with housing, or never wanted it. They live in the shadows of society, sleeping in alleyways, on sidewalks, in store fronts, on beaches, in forests, parks and school yards, subsisting on handouts, their wits and help from friends.

Many suffer mental illnesses and require medication they often won't take, leading to threatening anti-social behavior that frightens tourists and vexes business owners. They avoid the shelters because they can't abide by the rules and regulations. They are largely content, for whatever reasons, with their lives on the street, even professing to draw strength from a shared sense of camaraderie and self-reliance.

Downtown Hilo is where the homeless are most visible, acknowledges Downtown Improvement Association President Jeffrey Mermel. "But the problem is everywhere."

The state housing survey prepared in 2003 by SMS Research & Marketing Services Inc., concluded that "substantial numbers of Hawaii's homeless are unsheltered at any time," and noted that shelter spaces are in very short supply throughout the state, especially in Hawaii County.

The SMS report describes a dire need for more emergency, transitional and permanent low-income housing for the homeless.

The East Hawaii Coalition for the Homeless operates the only homeless shelter on the Big Island, with 52 beds at its Kapiolani Street facility in Hilo. Homeless families and individuals enter a six-week shelter program that offers a variety of services designed to help people get back on their feet.

Bader said other facilities provide shelter for those with mental health problems and victims of domestic violence, but the number of available beds is woefully insufficient for the need.

Anna Hirakawa, EHCH program director, said the non-profit group purchased the former Hilo Hotel in 2001. Five units have been set aside for transitional housing. Plans are to convert more rooms for transitional housing, and the United Way and Adult Mental Health Services have set up shop in the building to provide support services.

The EHCH also provides "multi-service outreach" and a drop-in food pantry in Pahoa, Hirakawa said, where services are being expanded to reach the growing homeless problem there.

For people who want help, the Office of Social Ministry, a non-profit organization sponsored by Catholic Charities, provides a wide variety of basic services to the poor in Hawaii County.

"That's our target," said Carol Ignacio, director of the OSM. "They are willing to get off the street. In most cases, if newly homeless, people are willing to accept help. The longer they are homeless, the harder it is."

"We immerse them with services," she said. The agency has staff on call 24 hours a day to work with landlords. The needs are "not decreasing at all."

Ignacio laments the fact that the homeless who reject organized assistance and cause problems give those who want help a bad name. "Everybody is painted with the same brush," she said.

Nanette Castillo, a case worker and receptionist for the Salvation Army, said her agency serves up to 100 hot meals a day, three days a week, at its mission on Ponahawai Street, across from Lincoln Park, without restrictions.

Castillo said the number of homeless families is increasing as more families are cut from government welfare programs. "We have to pick up the slack for food."

She said the number of people who choose to be homeless and jobless, however, has remained relatively stable. The majority of people the Salvation Army serves is not homeless, she said.

Castillo said she is unaware of complaints about their clients causing problems in Lincoln Park, though she acknowledged that some congregate in the park before and after getting their meals.

What Castillo said Salvation Army officials worry about is being "enablers" of the homeless-by-choice lifestyle. "They have a meal everywhere they choose," she said. "There are three meals every day somewhere in the community."

She said the Salvation Army offers incentive programs for vocational rehabilitation but gets few takers. Those with disabilities could overcome them if they wanted, she said. "They could function."

"My boss calls us enablers," Castillo said. "We try not to go that route. But we are Christian-based. It's a dilemma because of our belief. What can you do when people come in hungry?"

Nevertheless, Castillo said she tries to be "a stickler for the guidelines" when it comes to limitations on providing long-term services to the homeless. "They have to take some responsibility."

Hirakawa said the community's perception of homeless has to change. "They see the derelict," she said. "The face of the homeless is a child as well. Half my clients are homeless families with children. It's very traumatic for a child. The circumstances are beyond their control.

"We can't change anybody's life until we change the perception ... that (the homeless) are not just druggies."

Hirakawa described the homeless in three categories: unsheltered, sheltered in agencies, and those at risk of being homeless. Many who fall into the first category, such as those who live at Kings Landing, don't even perceive themselves as homeless, she said.

Cassandra Lokelani Cho, 32, is at-risk. She has lived in the Lincoln Courtside Apartments for two years. She's a single parent with three kids, ages 7 to 14, who knows what it's like to be homeless. If not for her children, she might still be there.

Cho moved to Hilo from Oahu 10 years ago and has been homeless off and on. She gets supplemental Social Security payments and food stamps but hasn't worked since her car broke down.

On a recent weekday afternoon, she empathized with the homeless around her while she painted with watercolors in a Lincoln Park pavilion as her two younger children played nearby. Cho said she understands the sense of liberation some homeless people describe -- the near-total absence of the rules and expectations of conventional living. But with her kids, she also realizes she's better off with shelter.

The size of the homeless population Hirakawa sees, those seeking help, is stable at best. It's "primarily families, the shelter is always full," she said, and the overflow gets referred to other service agencies until openings occur. Cutbacks in federal and state welfare programs are "definitely a factor," and there also has been a marked increase over the past five years in the number of recently arrived Micronesian families in need of emergency housing.

Substance abuse and welfare reform are the next most common contributing factors to the homeless problem, she said. A recent boom in property values also has boosted rents, making it increasingly difficult to find affordable housing.

Beverly Grogan, director of the Hawaii County Mental Health Association, said housing is a national crisis "which could worsen on the Big Island." The federal budget includes proposals to cut Section 8 housing vouchers for very low-income residents, many who are permanently disabled, she warned in a recent report on housing in Hawaii County.

Hawaii County is assigned 1,796 Section 8 housing vouchers and all are taken -- 609 by the disabled, 345 by one-person households, and 345 by households with three or more people. Grogan said at least 12 percent of those individuals and families would be dropped from the program under Bush-administration proposals. Up to 215 vouchers would be cut at first, rising to 520 vouchers by 2009.

DIA President Mermel, who owns Fireplace and Home Center on Kamehameha Avenue, would like to see stronger community partnerships with agencies to develop innovative solutions to the homeless problem. He said the DIA board has expressed some impatience with the EHCH's apparent lack of progress in creating a new homeless shelter at the former Hilo Hotel.

EHCH's Bader said the coalition is "stuck now getting financing" to convert more hotel rooms to transitional housing for the homeless. Since acquiring the building, the coalition has taken advantage of local volunteers to clean up the property, and a $400,000 HUD grant will help pay down the mortgage on the building. But at least $1 million will be needed to renovate it, he said.

The timeline for converting the hotel is not necessarily behind schedule for a project of its type, Bader said. The age of the hotel may require some relaxation of county building code requirements, and potential structural problems could cause more delays.

Agencies that potentially could provide the bulk of the money want to see the level of community support before investing in it themselves, Bader said. The EHCH is reaching out to any organization that could help demonstrate that support, he said. "If we get help, the price could come down."

"Our concern is mostly single males," Bader said. "We really need a drop-in type shelter," which the EHCH is not providing at the hotel. That's largely because single males often choose the street over a shelter or other more structured lifestyle.

Hunter Bishop can be reached at hunter@hawaiitribune-herald.com

This angers me because I have to work or I dont eat. I have to live indoors or I cant work therefore I cant eat. Those who make abhereant lifestyle choices should be able to, but not at my expense.(that Cho lady really burned me up, she gets to sit in the park and paint while I bust my ass, its wrong wrong wrong!!!) We pay a 5 percent tax on EVERY business transaction involving money. this includeds food, medicines rent, raw materials, services.....If business were not taxed so much, maybe they could hire more people, like my husband...or they could buy stuff at my store. I dont feel its right to be expected to pay the vagrants way through life. I wish that the state would get a clue and realize that these do-gooder programs only sap the will and keep people poor. They feed them, but do nothing else to help them.

Oh they are mentally ill... people say this to me. well, so am I and I still sleep indoors, bathe and use a toilet. I dont rummage through garbage, or panhandle in front of five star resturants. I dont choose to live that large and not by the rules of society. You would have to be Mental to want to live outside here...We have torential rain here nearly everynight...makes no sense to me at all.

As for the families, I do understand. But they still can do something. We have multiple generations living out on the beach at Kings Landing near the Hilo airport under blue tarps. Been there for years. When they were notified that squatting was unlawful and told to leave recently, the people all laughed then got a lawyer (so much for being poor...)Their posisiton is that they are Hawaiian (mostly, lots of white faces there) and they have a "right" to live on the beach and the rest of could just kiss off..."Oh and by the way County of Hawaii, bring out an additional portable toilet, we have some new folks here."..Grrr!

We had a family in the Cunningham right above the old store...5 people sleeping in a 8x10 room, and they were out in three months. That sort of thing I totally support. The Dad was a go getter and worked at three different things to earn enough to get his kids out of there and I salute him. It was a temporary situation and he needed a temporary place. Had he not had to pay 550.00 a month for that 8x10 plus share a bath, he'd have been out a lot sooner...talk about a rip off.

Jeff Mermel of the Hilo Downtown Improvement association says he and others or growing impaitent with the lack of housing for the "homeless". Well... Who is going to make these criminals go to the sheler? They dont want to obey the rules, like no drugs no prostitution...so they will continue to sleep in our shop doorways, and sell drugs on our property.

So now you can see the ugly uncompassionate side of me. With the efforts that we have to make to survive I have little pity for this. Not so long ago vagancy and tresspass was a crime. I would that it be made so again.

June 21, 2004

Separate But Equal

Only in Hawaii would you have this... The eduational standardized tests in Hawaiian. A living language certainly, but one that is only spoken here in this tiny island chain. We have charter Schools that teach children ONLY in Hawaiian, and now the government will test them in Hawaiian... Balkanization at its very best...

Here is the article

Sunday, Jun 20, 2004
New laws will advance Hawaiian schools


By HUNTER BISHOP
Students can opt for standardized tests in Hawaiian

Gov. Linda Lingle signed two public education bills into law Friday at a press conference held at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

One bill would allow students in Hawaiian immersion programs to take the state's standardized assessment tests in Hawaiian instead of English. The other authorizes a feasibility study for setting up separate school districts for charter schools.

"While these bills are not completely specific to Hilo, or the University of Hawaii at Hilo, ... (they) will impact programs here at UH and 'Aha Punana Leo statewide," Lingle said.

Kalena Silva, director of Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikolani, the College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, called it a "historic" day in his 20-year involvement in the Hawaiian language movement. The first bill "will help us move programs forward," he said, "and more accurately assess students' work."

It authorizes the state Department of Education to establish an instructional program that will allow students to meet the state's education standards through the medium of the Hawaiian language. It also establishes student eligibility requirements, and allows for the creation of a new oversight office.

The bill also directs the DOE to "work collaboratively" with the UH-Hilo Language College on developing the program.

Students currently enrolled in Hawaiian language immersion programs must take the state standardized tests in English.

UH-Hilo's College of Hawaiian Language instructors would help develop the tests and officials have already laid the groundwork for the project within the DOE, said Hawaii language and culture professor Larry Kimura.

The key word in the bill is "may," however, he said. The legislation does not obligate the DOE to do anything, although Kimura believes state DOE officials are "anxious" to develop the program.

"We need to work with them," he said. "This is all very new."

Mililani Hughes, vice principal of Ke Kula O Nawahiokalani'opu'u Iki Lab School, a DOE Hawaiian language immersion school in Keaau, said some of her graduates now attend universities such as Stanford and Loyola Marymount. "Yes, they can compete in an all-English college," Hughes said.

Hawaiian program students have been doing well on the English-language tests, Kimura said, and the language college professors would like to find out if students will do better overall on tests written in Hawaiian than they do on the English-language version.

"We should have our own standards," Kimura said.

About 2,000 students are enrolled in Hawaiian language immersion programs statewide, Hughes said. "It has become a living language ... it's a beautiful thing."

The private dining room on the campus where the press conference was held Friday morning was packed with students, faculty and administrators from the College of Hawaiian Studies and its affiliated programs, including 'Aha Punana Leo, who greeted Lingle on her arrival at Hilo campus.

The second bill Lingle signed Friday would launch a study of creating two separate school districts for charter schools. One district would encompass all of the Hawaiian language and culture charter schools in the state. The other district would include the remaining non-Hawaiian charter schools in Hawaii.

The Lingle administration had proposed to the Legislature a bill that would have established a single separate school district in Hawaii for all charter schools, but the Legislature did not pass that bill. The bill she signed Friday is a "step in the right direction," Lingle said.

One-half of the state's 26 charter schools are native Hawaiian-based cultural programs, and "charter schools, bottom line, provide choices for parents," Lingle said. "Options are important. We all learn in different ways."

The study, to be prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau, should be finished before the next legislative session.

Both measures signed Friday were passed unanimously by the state Legislature earlier this year.

Hunter Bishop can be reached at hunter@hawaiitribune-herald.com


I cant for the life of me understand this. Our children need to be educated in English the official language of the United States, by the way, and the ligua franca of the world at large. We are setting these kids up for a great disapointment as they enter the work place in a few years and realized that 99.99 percent of the people in Hawaii let alone the world do not speak Hawaiian and do not conduct business in it. I guess that is one way to insure a posse of maids, cooks and dancers for the tourists enjoyment. I think its also a plan to keep little Keone and Pualani home on the island insted of them leaving to work on the mainland where there are jobs and a life... if you have a grasp of the English language.

Yes perhaps some of the kids do go on to Higher Education off island...but they were educated in English first... This is a old program and now only a few of the current children have been to none emmersion schools...I think its wrong to do this and set up a separate but equal system within a system. We have seen how well that works...Just ask those that grew up prior to Brown vs. Board of Education