"The Most Enjoyable Holiday of the year..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in the suburbs of Buffalo N.Y. and has worked
in the ophthalmology field of medicine for almost 40 years.

The Most Enjoyable Holiday of the year

This long weekend that starts with Thanksgiving is one of the most enjoyable holidays of the year.  Not only do we get 4 days off in a row, but it starts the months of family gatherings, enjoyable holidays and reflecting on the thankfulness in our lives.  

We always celebrate with friends and what ever family we have close by. The wonderful smells of the holiday baking in the oven, the calls from friends and families sharing the holiday cheer and the excitement
 building in the stores adds to the joy of the holiday season.  

Today we will celebrate with friends and family and tomorrow we will bring Thanksgiving to my dad at the  nursing home to join him at this time of year. Since he is immobile and ageing it has become too difficult to bring him out so we bring all celebrations throughout the year to him. 

 I know he enjoys the great smells and wonderful food that he doesn't get a chance to eat very often and gets the whole family to see at the same time all together. 

 My message to you all  is too enjoy the holiday season and try and not focus on the commercial part of it as much as the holiday of giving and sharing of yourselves with others.  

Hana Hou (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"Obesity gone wild, Happy Thanksgiving..!‏" 'Kimo's world #45'

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a
 with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby...
 http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-friday-november/article_94ea4b00-76bf-11e4-b748-bf3e6cdbebfd.html

My sister and brother-in-law visiting
me on Kauai a few years back.
This meme was also used to
 promote this blog on Facebook

Kimo's world  #45

Obesity gone wild, Happy Thanksgiving!‏

Once a week I make my weekly sojourn to Costco to purchase a Rotisserie chicken. My dog and myself eat off it all week long.

The chickens are fully cooked and are the size of a small turkey.  Cost is only $4.99! That is a deal anywhere especially on the overpriced island of Kaua'i where a raw chicken alone  can cost you double, even triple that. For me and many families every week is Thanksgiving.

I do not go out much. I am like the little old lady who only drives to church on Sunday. I am the old guy that just drives to Costco once a week. I am also an avid people watcher and have noticed an obesity epidemic . I am 20 lbs over weight myself, yet feel like slim Jim (Kimo)compared to the masses when out shopping.

America has gotten so fat, even the homeless are fat. Look at the free soup kitchens, the people dishing out the food are  slimmer than the house-less people.

Thanksgiving has become a holiday  that is no longer needed. People eat like gluttons all year.

You've heard of "girls gone wild," Thanksgiving has become the holiday of "Obesity gone wild."

So on Thanksgiving everyone lift up your shirts and show that pot belly that America has so proudly produced!

How about making Thanksgiving a day of  fresh salads, fresh fruits and Tofu! At least you may stay alive another year to be Thankful!
On second thought,someone, please pass the gravy!

Happy Turkey day!

P.S.
This blog also appeared as an opinion column in the Kaua'i Garden Island news on November 28, 2014;
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-friday-november/article_94ea4b00-76bf-11e4-b748-bf3e6cdbebfd.html

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"Bettejo’s Cat House..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on the cosmic Garden Island of Kaua'i for over 40 years...

Bettejo is the author of the famed novellas "The Scam."

and recently published  "Children of Extinction..." 
Both books available on www.amazon.com

Bettejo’s Cat House

Cat’s are really getting a bad rap. Not only on Kauai-the largest and most infamous extermination island in Hawaii-where we want to extinct parakeets, feral chickens- ‘specially crowing roosters-coqui frogs, cats and other living things. (Not tourists, or rich guys in gated communities, or military personnel who shoot off rockets and stuff at Barking Sands.} But lately, cat surfing around, I’ve discovered they don’t make  good pets. Too independent, won’t come when called, hate to be petted, undomesticated, night prowling predators, and-for goodness sake- a health hazard.

Cat poop causes dread disease and possible death! Horrors!! Why didn’t somebody tell me? I’ve been around cats and cat poop for 84 years. My first cat, Helen, a yellow tiger, slept with me in my crib. When she and I outgrew the  crib, she slept in an overhead light fixture in my bedroom and once I put her in a flour bin, which startled my mother when she opened it to bake a cake and a white flash of angry feline fur flew out in her face. My mother screamed. My father, busy chopping the head off a fat rooster in the back yard, yelled, “What now?”

“Helen just jumped out of the flour bin.”

“How’d she get in there?”

Neither Helen nor I ever told. When Helen went to cat heaven, my father bought me a Siamese cat.  At that time we lived in an apartment in San Francisco  and she walked around a six-story ledge every night-rain or shine- red eyes scaring the neighbors. We named her Wishee.  We also had a Collie, named Lady,  who chased cable cars. My next cat was a black cat named Moses, who lived with us in Montclair, then Pleasanton, then Marin County. Mose would only enter the house on Wolf’s Grade through a living room window, and exit from my parents bedroom in the middle of the night. He’d put a paw under their closed-door and shake it.  It had a wrought iron handle that rattled down the hallway like an angry wraith. I don’t know that it awakened the dead, but it certainly wakened me and my parents. I guarantee you, one of us got out of bed and let the cat out.

Someone, in the cat bad- rapping scene, asked when and why we domesticated the damn things to begin with and, indeed, it is somewhat of a mystery.

What we know is by the Middle Egyptian Empire the cat as a fisher, hunter, and ratter was known and appreciated. Later on it was worshipped as a god.

So? Well, my two new kittens, Reba and Rosa, love to be petted. Come when called. Purr in harmony. Live in a three-story cat palace that probably cost more than most kid’s cribs. My house is a cat house. They romp in the rafters. Climb the walls. Jump up and down on counters and tables. Sleep in a lump in my water-bed. Eat like horses.

And, dare I ask? Why do you think they call it pussy?

This meme appeared on Facebook to promote this blog!

P.S.
Don't forget to check out Bettejo's weekly TV show on Public access Hoike television;

Here is the video link:
http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T01393&video=205423

or http://www.hoike.org Arts and Entertainment

*SUPPORT LOCAL ACCESS!!*

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"The Young Salesman..." 'Robert Bitos Gandia' (Source)

Guest-blogger,Robert Bitos Gandia.

Robert is an avid cook (ono gandule rice) and always laughing!!
He works at Syngenta as a Research Associate.

Robert lives in Kekaha on Kauai's west-side and loves football!!

The Young Salesman

A young guy from North Dakota moves to Florida and goes to a big "everything under one roof" department store looking for a job.
The Manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?"

The kid says,"Yeah. I was a salesman back in North Dakota."
Well, the boss liked the kid and gave him the job. "You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did."
His first day on the job was rough but he got through it. After the store was locked up the boss came down.

"How many customers bought something from you today?"
The kid says, "One".

"Just one? Our sales people average 20 to 30 customers a day. How much was the sale for?"

The kid says, "$101,237.65".

The boss says, "$101,237.65?" What the heck did you sell?"

The kid says, "First I sold him a small fish hook. Then I sold him a medium fish hook. Then I sold him a larger fish hook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast, so I told him he was going to need a boat so we went down to the boat department and I sold him a twin engine Chris Craft. Then he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4x4 Expedition."

The boss said, "A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a BOAT and a TRUCK?"

The kid said, "No the guy came in here to buy tampons for his wife and I said, 'Dude, your weekend's shot - you should go fishing.'

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

"Where are you from..?" 'Kimo's world #44'

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a 
with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby.

Above photo 1987 in my portrait studio,
Real Life Images in Homer Alaska 

Kimo's world #44
Where are you from?

Living in Hawai'i you will often be asked, "where are you from?" 

I always respond in one of two ways, I'm from planet Earth. And you??" My other response is  "let's not talk about me, but rather about you."

Why do people insist on knowing where you are from even before they know your name or are introduced?

Where are you from, goes in hand in hand with, "how long have you lived here?"

Why?  Does living here longer than someone else make you better than them?

Foreigners will always respond with the country they are from. "I'm from Italy, I'm from Japan, etc." They  usually never respond with a city, but rather a country.

Next time someone asks you how long have you lived here, referring to Hawai'i just say, "I've lived in America my whole life, and you?" My second favorite, longer than the average bear.

OK, any more questions?   ;-)

This meme was used  on Facebook to promote this blog! 

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

"Buffalo Winter has arrived early this year... 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York(a suburb of Buffalo)
and has worked inthe ophthalmology field of medicine for over 30 years.

Judith's house!

Buffalo Winter has arrived early this year

I remember growing up in Buffalo when the winters were long and the snow was an occurrence almost every day. We would build up forts at the end of our driveways with the plowed snow that would
accumulate at the ends and have snow ball fights frequently.  We  would spend hours playing outside building snow men and making angels in the snow.  We were bundled in layers by our mom and neverwere cold, I could stay out in the cold for hours.   I never gave it a thought that the weather was much different in other parts of the country. What did I know…   

As I began to get older, I realized that Winter is a great inconvenience to life events.  Many things are cancelled because of below zero temperatures and snow accumulation.  Schools, towns, roadways etc are shut down and cause us to put a halt on life. 

I never cared much for outdoor sports except for tobogganing.  As my children grew older they were engaged in snow boarding and we spent many a weekend trekking to the nearby ski resorts, I for one
stayed in the clubhouse  to keep warm. Every year I pray that we will not have a harsh winter…who  am I kidding…this is BUFFALO.

As I have become more mature while  adding up my birthday candles, I have come to realize that I really hate the winter.  Driving in it has become frightful especially when caught in a white out with slippery roads and darkness.  I am a careful driver but that doesn’t account for the patches of ice on the road or
a driver next to you in a hurry. 

 In my younger years I never gave it a second thought  running to the store in a storm; now it’s a different story.  I loathe going to work on the thruway and in the early morning darkness with snow falling down.  I don’t know if it is the age or I am just fed up with it. 

Our winter last year was a douse and this year coming so early looks like it will be a repeat.  Like last year, we took an early winter vacation out west and got out by the skin of our teeth with  flights that took 14 hours to complete with all the delays, but it was worth it. 


 I’m thinking I must get away again this winter;
it somehow makes things more bearable to return if it is still  a frozen tundra here.  Breaking up the winter is a great idea if you are able to do it. I feel retirement will be coming in the next decade and then we will make some serious plans to at least split the year.  

I think I know how our cat used to feel finding
a nice sunny spot on the carpet and taking a nap.  Not only is the sun warming but very uplifting  to see it every day.

So to all those “snowbirds” of which were my parents who spent 18 years going to Florida in the winters, I do envy you all.  Having the best of both worlds is a joy I look forward to.  Hopefully that plan
is in the cards for us.

P.S.
The new York Times has a good story and many photos on the Buffalo Snow storm of November 2014. Check it out;
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/nyregion/extreme-snowstorm-pummels-western-new-york.html?_r=0

P.S.S.
Check out this YouTube video of the storm;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoG2-XSINxw

Images of the Buffalo snow storm found on the Buffalo Bills Facebook Timeline

The view from inside Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard N.Y on Friday morning.
This Sundays NFL Football game between The new York Jets and Buffalo Bills has been cancelled.Game has been been moved to Monday night at Ford stadium in Detroit. Tickets are free for anyone who wants. Ticket holders for the the Jets Bills will be refunded or credited... 

Read more about the free tickets and game situation;
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24826740/bills-jets-tickets-will-be-free-for-monday-game-in-detroit

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"The current immigrant story...." 'Chester "Unc" Lau' (Source)

Dakinetalks favorite Uncle (Chester Lau)

"Unc"  is really passionate about creating a national Caregivers day.

Any help , support or ideas would be greatly appreciated...

'Unc' currently resides on the Hawai'ian Island of Oahu. 
He is a retired cinematographer,
 and  enjoys giving the politicians a bad time...

The current  immigrant story

My Grandfather watched as his friends died in WW I...

My Father watched as his friends died in WW II and Korea ...

I watched and waited as my brother and friends fought for and died in Vietnam ...

I watched as my friends fought and died in Desert Storm...

I watched and waited while my son and friends fought in Iraq...
None of them fought for or died for the Mexican Flag...

Everyone fought for and died for the U.S. Flag!

In Texas, a student raised a Mexican flag on a school flag pole; another student took it down.
Guess who was expelled... The kid who took it down.

Kids in high school in California were sent home this year on Cinco de Mayo because they wore T-shirts with the American flag printed on them.
Enough is enough.

The below e-mail message needs to be viewed by every American;
And every American needs to stand up for America. We've bent over to appease the America-haters long enough...I'm taking a stand...
I'm standing up because the hundreds of thousands who died fighting in wars for this country, and for the U.S. Flag can't stand up...
And shame on anyone who tries to make this a racist message...Let me make this perfectly clear!

THIS IS MY COUNTRY! And, because I make This statement DOES NOT Mean I'm against immigration!!!
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE,
IN OUR COUNTRY!
Welcome!
To come through legally:
1. Get a sponsor !
2. Get a place to lay your head !
3.Get a job!
4.Live By OUR Rules!
5.Pay YOUR Taxes!  And
6.Learn the LANGUAGE like immigrants
have in the past!!
AND
7.Please don't demand that we hand over our lifetime
Savings of Social Security Funds to you.
If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone,
Then YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
When will AMERICANS STOP giving away THEIRRIGHTS???
We've gone so far the other way... Bent over backwards not to offend anyone...
But it seems no one cares about the
AMERICAN CITIZEN  being offended!
WAKE UP America !!!

 Designed by geniuses. Run by idiots.

Mahalo Nui Loa and God bless Unc for his service to America!  

Thank you Unc for your service to America!

Our favorite Unc was one of the cinematographers on the
original Hawai'i Five-0 with Jack Lord.

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE MILITARY..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on the cosmic Garden Island of Kaua'i for over 40 years...

Bettejo is the author of the famed novellas "The Scam."

and recently published  "Children of Extinction..." 
Both books available on www.amazon.com

THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE MILITARY

The church, the state and the military are the three most powerful constructs in the world and, like a three-legged beast, they teeter on the slope of a crumbling economic decline.

Of the three, the church is the most powerful. The patriarchal Gods of the three dominant religions are proof of this power. Without the vast numbers of ignorant followers there would be fewer wars. These are the rank and files who die in the battles their Gods create. On the one hand Gods preach love and peace, on the other they preach hate and war. The peace message of Their Holy Books is cherry picked to lure the credulous into the fold. Then, when it suits Them, God flips a page.

Almost everyone remembers, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, ” Isaiah 2:4; but flip a page, read Joel 3:10, “You can beat your plowshares into swords, and your prune hooks into spears.”

As for Christ,  in Mathew 10:34 He said

“I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.”

To obey these contradictions, and they are multitude, would drive a sane human up a wall. They keep true believers busy beating plowshares and pruning hooks into spears and swords.

Selling spears and swords is a profitable proposition. War is good for the pocket book. Make hoards of innocent humans miserable and millions, armed with spear and a sword, march off to fight for God and country.

We’re living it. Kauai is a microcosm of this alliance, a resort-coated, church-attending fortress. Count the houses of worship and in front of none of these, except at Christmas, does the banner of peace wave. One of Kauai’s largest employers is now the Pacific Missile Range Facility. PMRF is big on the West-side.

Today America is at the center of the mess, a power player in a world gone mad and, in many ways, we’re responsible. We’ve spent much of our time feeding the slouching beast, it’s a moneymaker and we've down little if anything to slow it down. We had voices, why didn't we use them?

Many of us did and hopefully our numbers are growing. Growing because religion, and its warrior Gods, has dug itself into a pit from which there is no escape. Fewer worshippers every day can swallow the hate spewing from the mouths of bigots; nor would they consider being part of the multitudes who flock to their call. God’s mindless followers are not only a secular anathema, they are a malignant mass growing on the face of faith itself.

Reasoning minds know that most of this assembly joined the ranks because their lives are so miserable they have nowhere else to go. In the Christian neck of these dark woods, they’ll buy anything, Armageddon, Rapture, because death is the answer to their prayers: God will destroy the world in order to save it.

Introduce Muslims fanatics and you've got a death cult run amok. The blood curdling commands of their peace loving God send reasoning Muslims running for cover; and their neighbor, the Jewish warfare state, has a God so fierce He rattles his nukes.

But who, the sanest voice amongst them, dare point a finger?

Where the Islamic religion has taken hold in foreign countries, they frequently carry banners KILL THE INFIDEL in the street.

In many of these civilized societies religious differences are not to be tampered with and signs like these are tolerated.

The Muslim fundamentalist believes martyrs, who die for their Gods, are awarded with 72 virgins. Think of the Islamic furor created when a Danish cartoonist dared to depict the Muslim guardian in the sky proclaiming that so many martyrs had died Paradise had run out of virgins. There were death threats over that one and the presses stopped in many of the most civilized countries.

Does freedom of religion trump freedom of the press?

In our neck of this dense wood we have an almost sacred secular document, our Bill of Rights. The First Amendment, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion is our birthright and we set religious freedom on a high rock. So how do the sanest voices in American get around that?

Joseph Campbell said, “When Gods die there’s hell to pay.”

A bottom line problem, as I see it, is that one is not born religious. One is born human. Then, with a sprinkling of water, a dunking, a whisper in the ear, and the passage of a holy scroll one’s faith is defined and a beautiful young mind is crippled.  Soon the concept of sin is introduced. Hell and damnation and Satan are boogies that hide in the dark and there is no school in this neck of the tangled woods where a child is told there is no Santa. One can spend a lifetime trapped in the myth. A few fight their way out of this dark place, which can be as painful for the adult as it was for the child, but many never escape. They slump to another house of worship. Dyed in the cradle believers. To dare speak the truth on any subject, if it displeases their God, is a perilous endeavor.

What kind of mind believes pandas sprang full blown ten thousand years ago? We are not subjected here to the bleating of the sheep, they who proclaim themselves men of science presented these beliefs in court. Creative men with a grand design vomited gibberish, jabberwocky and gobbledygook in an American courtroom, were called down on it by the judge, but left the room with their beast drawn carts filled with true believers. In many ways we have not evolved since the Scopes trial.

So let us now dare say it: to hold staunchly to a story one’s reasoning mind tells you is a lie is an emotional disease. Belief thinking is the most dangerous force in the world today. With our voices we must break the back of this rough beast. Shove the creature off the cliff and let the voice of reason ring out loud and clear.

P.S.S.
Don't forget to check out Bettejo's weekly TV show on Public access Hoike television;

Here is the video link:
http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T01393&video=205423

or http://www.hoike.org Arts and Entertainment

*SUPPORT LOCAL ACCESS!!*

Aloha friends on Kaua'i, this Saturday November 22,2014 in Anahola a full day of music in support of Kanuikapono school... Please show your support. Mahalo!
Kanuikapono believes in providing a “school without walls”, in which the environment, or nature, is considered the best classroom.Grounded as such, outreach sites throughout the island serve as authentic learning environments for the curricula. Although the educational model is based in the Hawaiian way of learning, all programs are non-discriminatory and open to anyone on the island of Kauai. However, participants must demonstrate interest and appreciation for the Hawaiian culture. Read more;

http://kanuikapono.org

 Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"A society named Sue..." 'Kimo's world #43'

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a
 with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby...

This blog appeared as an opinion article in the Sunday , 11-15-14
 edition of the Kaua'i Garden Island newspaper; 
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-nov/article_ffd3d888-6d5e-11e4-ab41-8f0397893945.html

A society named Sue

I  recently read in the newspaper that a local doctor is being sued for wrongful death because his patient overdosed  on prescription pain medication patches.
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/death-leads-to-lawsuit/article_1ed1c9f4-670e-11e4-9baa-0743243d8304.html

I also know of a person in Florida who was broke and intentionally went into a nationally franchised  hardware store, staged a fall and claimed a  major back injury and settled out of court for mega bucks.

There are the people who plant glass in their dinner entree and sue restaurants.

 Believe it or not,  there  are  politicians that sue the people that pay their salary.

Why would anyone want to be a doctor? I am glad we still have doctors and business entrepreneurs  in this sue happy society we live in. There is the famous Johnny Cash song, "A boy  named Sue," Nowadays it's more like a society named Sue.

People need to take responsibility, if they spill hot coffee on themselves, it's their fault, not the restaurant's fault. Accidents happen all the time, what doctor or business intentionally  tries to hurt people? None! We live in a sue happy society where so many are looking for their big pay day and living happily ever after at the expense of others.

I am glad I am of retirement age.  People who start businesses these days have so much stress from the public. Why are Medical professionals being held responsible for their patient's actions when all they are trying to do is  help?

I believe it's time for medical professionals and businesses to have everyone sign a disclaimer similar to a prenuptial  before walking into their store, medical practice, or business. It could be as simple as;
I________________ take total responsibility for my actions. I promise to not sue this medical professional or store since I know they are only trying to help me.


They say a ship in the harbor may be safe, but that's not what a ship is built for. It's a sad situation in this day an age since a ship in harbor is exactly what many are now choosing to be.

This meme was used to promote this blog on Facebook...

http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-nov/article_ffd3d888-6d5e-11e4-ab41-8f0397893945.html

Aloha friends on Kaua'i, this Saturday November 22,2014 in Anahola a full day of music in support of Kanuikapono school... Please show your support. Mahalo!
Kanuikapono believes in providing a “school without walls”, in which the environment, or nature, is considered the best classroom.Grounded as such, outreach sites throughout the island serve as authentic learning environments for the curricula. Although the educational model is based in the Hawaiian way of learning, all programs are non-discriminatory and open to anyone on the island of Kauai. However, participants must demonstrate interest and appreciation for the Hawaiian culture. Read more;
http://kanuikapono.org/

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

The essence of life is a Huli Huli chicken with  lots of Aloha!