"THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Vintage Bettejo)

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

Bettejo is a regular opinion writer in the Garden Island news
 and is the author of the famed novella, "The Scam." 
 Her latest fiction"Children of extinction"
 is now  released and available on Amazon!

www.bettejodux.com

www.amazon.com

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE

The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life are free.

The stars belong to everyone, they shine there for you and me.

The flowers in spring, the robins that sing, the sunbeams that shine, they're yours, they're mine."

"What?"

"Old song. Bing Crosby sang it."

"Who?"

I sighed.  I tried. "An old proverb?"

"Proverb?"

"A  pithy saying.  A general truth. A piece of advice. Think: saying, axiom, adage, precept, word of wisdom."

"Socialistic crap. Very un-American. We  buy our way to happiness. The more stuff we have, the more money we have, the happier we are."

"Yeah."

"And, more important, the healthier we are."

"Really?"

"A healthy economy is a happy economy. A happy economy is a healthy people. Everybody knows that. Spend your way to prosperity.  Kennedy said that. Good advice. I'm headed out to buy an  iPod."

"iPod?"

"An electronic gizmo. The latest. For playing and storing digital audio and video files. You stick it in your ear. Ever done that?"

"Stick it where?"

"You can watch movies, hear music,  walk around."

"...and chew gum at the same time?"

"Why?"

"I think that was Lyndon Johnson. Yes, it was. 'He's so dumb he can't walk and chew gum at the same time.' He said it about Gerald Ford. Goodness knows what he'd have said about George Bush."

"You're so smart. When?"

"1974,"

"How in the hell did we get here?"

"Well, I had six honest serving men..."

"You're nuts."

" Not so nuts. I always loved Rudyard Kipling. Did you read The Jungle Book?"

"No but I saw the movie in 1974. Walt Disney. Wasn't he the greatest? Rich, I tell you. Had his body cryogenically frozen. Now that's class."

"No, he didn't. Died of lung cancer, though, and contributed to anti-communist hysteria. Big time."

"Smart man. I'll bet he wouldn't claim the best things in life are free."

"Probably not."

"So what else is new?"

"Here we go again."

Unfortunately we were seated in the same car. Front seat. I drove. There was no escaping this moron. "Where are you headed? I mean after we get to town and go our separate ways."

"Why do you ask?"

I felt like responding, 'so I'll be sure and go in the opposite direction', but I was polite. "I'm just making conversation." I still had three honest serving men left to help me out of this miserable quandary.

"I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew. Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who."

"Servants? You got six servants named Where and Who and...?

I named those left.   

"They gone?"

"Up't'n'died."

"When? How?"

" When iPods came along, they vanished down the memory hole."

"The memory hole?"

" Orwell. 1984.  An incinerator that destroys inconvenient truths. Al Gore was  correct, too. We rewrite history to suit the party line. Truth vanishes. Poof."

"You're weird and you're gonna get in trouble."

"No doubt. How is the hammer."

I hummed. Journeys end. We parted.

Bettejo a few years back playing checkers
with her nephew...

Bettejo provided the quote on 

the enclosed Kauai sunrise meme!

Editor's note, Dakinetalk guest bloggers do not necessarily represent the opinions of dakinetalk. Guest bloggers are given space to express their beliefs and or opinions. We feel there are many roads and like to give people space to express their thoughts,after-all that's what dakine is...

Aloha, James "Kimo" Rosen---Blogger-n-chief, dakinetalk blog---

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"The lost earring..." 'Robert Bitos Gandia' (Source)

Guest-blogger,Robert Bitos Gandia

.Robert is an avid cook (ono gandule rice) and always laughing!!
Robert lives in Kekaha on Kauai's west-side and loves football!!

The lost earring

A man is at work one day, when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring.

The man knows his co-worker to be a conservative guy, and is curious about his sudden change in fashion sense.
The man walks up and says, “I didn’t know you were into earrings.”

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The co-worker responds sheepishly, “Don’t make such a big deal out of this, it’s only an earring.”

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The man falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to say, “So how long have you been wearing one?”

The co-worker responds, “Ever since my wife found it in my truck.”

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"Definitions change...." 'James "Kimo" Rosen' (Kimo's world #79)

James "Kimo"Rosen is a retired Professional Photographer
 living on the Garden island of Kaua'i 
with his best friend Obama Da Dog.

Editors note; This blog also appeared as an opinion article in the July 16,2015 edition of the Kaua'i Garden Island news.
"Definitions change."
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-july/article_56b45e16-d089-5825-8dd1-5c8fa6d3ba4a.html
A Rebuttal to my blog appeared in the July 17, 2015 edition of the Kaua'i Garden Island news.
"Marriage definition remains the same."
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-july/article_bb8f34f8-642d-5cca-9ce2-26dda195a46c.html

Kimo's World #79
Definitions change

 Whether you  like it or not gay marriage is now legal in all 50 states.

Marriage used to be defined as a bond between a man and woman. Times have changed and   dictionaries have had to change the definition of marriage.

The question now remains will Meriam Webster, Oxford, American Heritage  and other dictionaries of the world now need to change the definitions of husband and wife?

Who knows, we may soon change the definition of right to wrong, and wrong to right.

P.S.
For added reading on the subject of Gay marriage check out the following~All marriages should be gay~
http://dakinetalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/all-marriage-should-be-gay-james-kimo.html

Last but not least check out~Making everyone happy, or should I say gay~
http://dakinetalk.blogspot.com/2010/02/making-every-happy-or-should-i-say-gay.html


Hana Hou, (Encore) Kaua'i Sunrise quotes

"Spending time with family..." 'Judith Whitehead' (inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York
( A suburb of Buffalo, N.Y.)

 and has worked in the ophthalmology
 field of medicine for over 30 years

Spending time with family

It's been a busy week with my California traveler,celebrating birthdays and eating out a lot,  at least it's been warm out.  

Judith, Joel, Jacob and Steve

As we get older, we appreciate spending more time with family as our children spread out and are into their own lives.  The little get togethers mean so much more as our lives speed by.  

The California traveler (Joel)
with Steve & Judith

Planning our August get-a-way to California this summer  and maybe a quick fall trip.  
Our next annual event will be our neighborhood joint garage sale, time to declutter again.

Hana Hou, (Encore) Kauai Sunrise memes

"Love and Hate..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Vintage Bettejo)

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

Bettejo is a regular opinion writer in the Garden Island news
 and is the author of the famed novella, "The Scam." 
 Her latest fiction"Children of extinction"
 is now  released and available on Amazon!

www.bettejodux.com

www.amazon.com

Love and Hate

Bettejo and Aristotle

Sticky wicket subject for a brief column. It's Tuesday in Paradise. A heady blooming perfumed day. Always a beautiful day in paradise. I owe my editor a column and  really don't feel up to it. 

The bank behind my house is alive with walking iris. Their little white heads are cheerfully bobbing in the early morning light. My feral flock is scratching and munching on bugs and other juicy chicken delights. A light breeze sets leaves dancing on the bank and slipping silently through the iris I see one kitten stalking. Reba. It's a game. She never catches anything, but I love to watch her hunt. She think she's a big deal. Head honcho feline in this neck of the woods. The chickens trickle off with a flutter and a wink. They blend in so well they disappear in plain sight.

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So, what has this to do with the heavy theme: Love and hate? Well, at that  moment, I felt very loving, until a sudden sodden thought awry leaped in my mind and spoiled the revery. Is it true that love and hate are opposite sides of the same coin, my mind queries? Is it true  you can never really appreciate--or feel--these deep human emotions without experiencing the other? Can one  know what it means to love, if one has  never known what it means to hate?

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Love and hate are powerful--and potent--emotions. Love can be gentle and kind. It soars the human condition. I don't think hate can ever be gentle and kind. I think it must always be aggressive and nasty. It sours the soul, if you believe in such a mysterious entity. It hammers the beating heart flat with bludgeoning blasts of red hot steel. The mad iron monger in the sky's murderous obstruction heaved beneath the feet  of the human travelor.

One of my favorite people, my feed store man, made a  profound statement,  "Atheists just love everything," he said one day. Out of the blue.

Think about it.

Can that be true?

And, anyway, what's it got to do with chickens and kittens and walking iris? What does it have to do with a fragrant day in paradise? With a column over due?

Everything, I think.

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I quoted a Biblical passage recently and sent it to the paper in response to a Christian teacher's letter to the Forum in which he quoted a  passage concerning his interpretation of what his God had to say about gay marriage.

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Here's my quote:

"If any man comes to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sister, and yea his own life also, he cannot be a disciple." (Luke 14:26) It's writ in red. A direct quote  in the New Testament.

Well,  fortunately,  Jesus  didn't say anything about loving kittens and chickens and walking iris and an editor who's going to be cranky receiving a late column.

To wrap it up, may I say? "If you must hate, hate cancer."
  

Bettejo a few years back playing checkers
with her nephew...

Editor's note, Dakinetalk guest bloggers do not necessarily represent the opinions of dakinetalk. Guest bloggers are given space to express their beliefs and or opinions. We feel there are many roads and like to give people space to express their thoughts,after-all that's what dakine is...

Aloha, James "Kimo" Rosen---Blogger-n-chief, dakinetalk blog---

Hana Hou, (Encore)  Sunrise memes by James "Kimo" Rosen

"Keeping track of the roosters..." Robert Bitos Gandia (Source)

Guest-blogger,Robert Bitos Gandia

.Robert is an avid cook (ono gandule rice) and always laughing!!
Robert lives in Kekaha on Kauai's west-side and loves football!!

Keeping track of the roosters

Madeline was in the fertilized egg business. She had several hundred young ‘pullets’ and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs. She kept records and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced. This took a lot of time, so she bought some tiny bells and attached them to her roosters. 

Each bell had a different tone, so she could tell from a distance which rooster was performing. Now, she could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells. Madeline’s favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen: but, this morning she noticed old Butch’s bell hadn't rung at all!

When she went to investigate, she saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. 

To Madeline’s amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn’t ring. 

He’d sneak up on a pullet, do his job, and walk on to the next one. Madeline was so proud of old Butch, she entered him in the Dowerin Show and he became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result was the judges not only awarded old Butch the “No Bell Peace Prize”: they also awarded him the “Pulletsurprise" as well.

Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the unsuspecting populace and screwing them when they weren’t paying attention?

Sunrise therapy can be seen daily on 

James "Kimo" Rosen's
Facebook Timeline. 

Hana Hou, Encore) Shared From Facebook

Giving back to my country... 'James "kimo" Rosen' (Kimo's world#78)

James "Kimo"Rosen is a retired Professional  Photographer living on theGarden island  of Kaua'i with his best friend Obama Da Dog.

Kimo's World #78
Giving back to my country

 I do not talk about this but much but I have been a proud  member of United States selective service system board  for the last 13 years. 
  In the event of a national emergency I need to  be prepared to implement an Alternative Service Program for registrants classified as conscientious objectors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_System
What happens should the military draft be reinstated some day? If the military  draft is ever reinstated I am  prepared along with 11,000 other US  citizens whom volunteer to hear  and listen as to why  a potential draftee considered a conscientious objector should have to serve or be deferred.

I represent my zip code of 96746. Every Zip code in our country has a local board.My zip code represents Region 3 which is  responsible for more than half of the geographic area of the United States, 

Board members undergo an initial 8-hour training session and then participate in annual training in which they review sample cases similar to real-life situations.

I originally volunteered and got accepted because it meant one free round trip to Honolulu  every year  to go over the material we need to know and keep our skills sharp even though we currently have an all volunteer military. However in 2008 when the recession hit hard the trips were cancelled in lieu of a once a year home study by DVD.

Ever since 1976 there has been an all volunteer military in the US. This means only a small portion of the population serves their country. During prior wars like Vietnam, Korea and the World wars there was a draft which got everyone involved. Nowadays the only people involved are those who volunteer and since the numbers are down many enlisted serve multiple deployments.

Some say a draft system is better, it get's the whole country interested and involved since everyone over 18 can potentially be drafted, rich and poor are both involved. Now a good part of the population doesn't even know  why or where we're fighting.

This famous poster was used to recruit  soldiers for both World  War I and World War II.

I believe a military draft will come back  in the near future. I believe the draft makes for a more patriotic country. Young, old, rich and poor are all involved whereas with an volunteer army it's mainly poor people whom want future benefits.

Imagine a time comes when people stop enlisting or we are in a major war and need millions more to help? This is why every adult male at the age of 18 is required to register for the draft even during volunteer times.

My job should there ever be a draft is to determine if conscientious objectors should get out of serving after  we hear them out and they submit the appropriate paper work.

I came very close to serving my country as a young man. I had actually gone through all the procedures, physical, written test, talking to a recruiter. I had passed everything and was about to walk into the oath room when my father came running in from his nearby office and asked the Sergeant in charge if I could put serving off  for a few months..The sergeant said "as long as you son has not taken the oath he is not officially in the army.

Another famous army poster for  reenlistment

I still wonder what would had been if my father had got stuck in traffic that day. I missed the opportunity   to serve back in 1974. I have always wanted to be part of the military and being a selective service board  member has made it possible for me to give back to my country. 

Read more about the selective service system of which I am a volunteer board member;
https://www.sss.gov/annual7.htm

Hana Hou, (Encore) Kimo's personal memes....