"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder..." 'Michael Herr' (Aloha Friday)

 Renowned author Michael Herr is back guest blogging on this awesome Aloha Friday about how beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that bigger is not always better...
Michael is happily retired and pursuing his dreams of writing and publishing books, he currently lives in Walnut Creek California.  (Michael is pictured above with his latest book,"The old Queen and the Maui Maiden." To purchase this book or any of Michael's 6 other novella's go to; http://www.michaelherr.com

ALOHA FRIDAY

February 17, 2012

It's Aloha Friday.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... 

Aloha folks.

I received a DVD set of the complete "Barney Miller" TV series for my birthday. I love watching "Barney". There's so much in the series that is relevant even today.

But one thing I noticed was the less-than-ample bosoms of a great many of the female actors. In particular I noticed in one episode, an episode where Wojohowitz falls for a prostitute and asks her to move in with him, an actress who is almost flat-chested. But she is absolutely beautiful. Several other actresses in the series were also beautiful, but less than overly-endowed.

So what has happened over the past 30-40 years? Why are so many of the movie and television stars so . . . exceedingly bountiful. One answer, breast implants.

Remember the first silicon injections? Gigantic breasts became the norm — followed years later by massive disfigurements for some women.

Then plastic surgeons developed a new method. Breast prostheses filled with silicone gel. Suddenly women everywhere were going from A to B or C or D. Some even went further (but those who went that far soon found that sleeping on their backs was no longer a choice but rather a necessity).

But why? Why did, and why do, so many women seek to increase their breast size? Childbearing will usually do that naturally for a woman. So why this unnatural desire to increase their breast size?

Because women think men find them more attractive with large breasts is my primary guess. Do men in general prefer large breasts?

Undoubtedly a lot of men do prefer big-breasted women. But there are also a great many men, myself included, who are turned off by women who have gone beyond what nature intended them to have. Women who seem to have trouble walking without falling forward, dragged down by their implants.

Beautiful breasts are not necessarily defined by size. Shape, balance, and other factors are just as, if not more, important.

It's too bad that movies, television and commercial advertisements tend to play up large breasts over smaller ones. Cleavage is pushed to the front when selling all types of products.

But large breasts, overly large usually, can be intimidating. After all, a small breast in the hand is quite a nice handful. An overly large breast . . . requires more than one hand.

Enough on breasts. I think perhaps I seem a bit fixated. Maybe next time we'll talk about the body part that so many men seem to want to enlarge on themselves.

Okay folks, see you next week.

For more of Michael's writings go to http://www.michaelherr.com

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, Publisher.

"Open your eyes..." 'James 'Kimo" Rosen'

"You talkin to me." "Yea, I'm talkin to you!" Read  all about legalizing  prostitution, marijuana and gambling... This blog was also published on 02-18-12 as an opinion article in the Kaua'i Garden Island News under the title," Gambling already rampant in Hawai'i."
 http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-saturday-february/article_7ce732c2-5a5f-11e1-a50b-001871e3ce6c.html

They say (whoever they are) the only two states without gambling are Hawaii and Utah, not so fast...

Cockfighting is alive and well on every island in Hawaii, on any given weekend there are hundreds of scheduled cockfights, anyone wanting to get in the gambling need just know somebody to get you in. Overall, law authorities turn their head on this. The crazy thing, even bingo fundraisers are illegal in Hawaii, unless you happen to be on one of Hawaii's US military bases,  then you can play organized bingo for money.

Prostitution is readily available in the open, on Oahu with sign's all over with the likes of relaxation parlors, hostess bars and massage parlors, these businesses are usually located near bars and strip clubs.

Anybody who needs to smoke marijuana can obtain it, I have heard many  law enforcement officers smoke pot themselves.

It's time the masses  quit being hypocrites and vote to legalize gambling, prostitution and marijuana! Our prisons are  overcrowded, our courts or stressed costing the taxpayer millions. Many good people are sitting  around and rotting in prisons for what many of us do, they just happened to get caught.
 I do not partake in any of these activities, however recognize the tax money the state is losing out on and going into the hands of organized and unorganized crime.

 It's no wonder that Las Vegas is the number one travel destination for Hawai'i people. Let's open our eyes, we can all continue to be hypocrites or realize we have a farm with three cash crops begging to be taxed .
 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, Publisher.

"A whole new world..." Chester "Unc" Lau (L'oncle Amusant)-Source-

"Unc" is back talking about the new world we live in today and our children's future...  Chester Lau, (L'oncle Amusant) is a retired cinematographer enjoying his golden years on the island of Oahu. "Unc"  also served in the Korean war  as a Master Sergeant, and enjoys the naturist lifestyle.

The US is going in the direction of  Almighty ROME  !!! HELP !!! Le Marquis de Lafayette  !!! Dump the republicrats  !!! Vote George Washington & Thomas Jefferson 2012 !!! L'oncle Amusant

This is truly a read and weep article...
   A whole new world - the future for our children…… read on……..

  The things listed in items 1-10 are in either in full implementation or in the process of happening. Most of the items will affect you directly in one way or another and many of them are not good. Item Number 10 and the 19 Facts Listed About The Deindustrialization Of America Will possibly stun you. CHANGES ARE COMING...

1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.

4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.

5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.

 6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."

7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

 9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again. All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.

10. Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II. But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America .. Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us.

The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation?

We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.So what happens when the debt bubble pops?The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them. For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber. The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation

.#2 Dell Inc., one of Americas largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U. S. Trade deficit with China has risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.

#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15Th.

#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .

#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?

How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?

The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.If you disagree with this article, I have a direct challenge for you. If anyone can explain how a de-industrialized America has any kind of viable economic future, please do so.America is in deep, deep trouble folks. It is time to wake up!! All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. --  Edmund Burke

Thank you "Unc" for serving our country and continue to serve by caring with the sharing of such profound facts about our great country, in hopes that it stays great!

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, Publisher.

"Hieroglyphic writing's on the wall... ' Marvin Gross' (source)

 

"Hieroglyphics have been studied by many scholars over the years , the enclosed is an important piece of history discovered in a cave in Israel..." Mahalo Nui to Marvin Gross a financial advisor from Western N.y for this bit of history!"

Linguistic humor, The writing on the wall

A team of archaeologists was excavating in Israel when they came upon a cave. Written across the wall of the cave were the following symbols: a woman, a donkey, a shovel, a fish, and the Star of David.
 
They decided that this was a unique find, and that the writings were at least three thousand years old. They chopped out the pieces of stone and had them brought to the museum, where archaeologists from all over the world came to study the ancient symbols. After months of conferences to discuss the meaning of the markings, they held a huge meeting.
 
The president of the scholarly society stood up and pointed at the first drawing and said: "This looks like a woman. We can judge that the race was family-oriented and held women in high esteem. You can also tell they were intelligent, as the next symbol resembles a donkey, so they were smart enough to have animals help them till the soil. The next drawing looks like a shovel of some sort, which means they even had tools to help them. Even further proof of their high intelligence is the fish, which means that if a famine hit the earth, they would take to the sea for food. The last symbol appears to be the Star of David, which means they were evidently Hebrews." The audience applauded enthusiastically.
 
Then a little old man stood up in the back of the room and said: "Idiots! Hebrews read from right to left. It says: 'Holy Mackerel, dig the ass on that woman!'"

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, Publisher

"Children Need to be Encouraged at a Young Age..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Monday)

Judith Whitehead is back guest-blogging on this awesome Inspirational Monday about one of the many ways that "These times they are a changin!" Judy lives in Amherst N.Y. and has worked in the medical profession for over 30 years.

Children Need to be Encouraged at a Young Age

In today’ s times of electronics, technology, and the world wide web, we are starting to ignore the creative gifts that our children have and their potential to do something great because they are always “occupied” these days. It is so much easier to put a child in front of a video, I pod or an electronic “toy” than to let them be creative.

Recently we went out to breakfast with our family as we have done since our children were born. We always brought a small box of toys, crayons or books for them to do as we waited for the meal to come. I couldn't believe what we saw…a small computer on the table and the toddler watching a cartoon at the table. There was no communication between the parents and the child, just the child sitting in a trance viewing the movie. Is that what technology has done to our new generation of families? I still believe that kids need to be encouraged to be creative and expand on their natural talents and gifts.

When my son was 10 years old he expressed an interest in playing a guitar. He picked up an old one of his dads and starting plunking at the strings. It wasn't long before we bought him a small used one of his own and that was the start of his destiny. He had talents that we tapped into that we would have never known had we not gotten him that guitar. He could play by ear and could pick up any song he heard. He went on to recording, playing and became a well known luthier in one of the biggest guitar stores to the rich and famous in California.

Our children have hidden gifts that are just waiting to be discovered. Our parents of today need to put a cap on the electronics and save time for interaction with their children; real old fashioned conversation will give them a great foundation for their adult years and let them discover their gifts.

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, Publisher.

Valentines Day reminder... 'Obama Da Dog'

"Obama Da dog dressed in her valentines outfit that she bought half price, the day after valentines day...This blog starts with a Valentines day poem  submitted to the Garden Island news. Then leads into the long form blog that was the inspiration for this poem!This blog also  ran as an opinion article on Valentines day in the Garden Island News (02-14-12)
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-tuesday-february/article_d26f21a6-56b7-11e1-8980-0019bb2963f4.html

Roses are red violets are blue, I like to start the day with the Garden Island news!

Roses are red violets are blue,Valentines day can bring on the blues, so why not celebrate Valentines day, sometime in May or the very next day?

The day after everything goes on sale.  Restaurants are not as crowded, service will be less stressed and the menus may actually feature specials at reduced prices.

V.D. (Valentines Day) is a holiday that stresses romance. Many couples go out for dinner, have a few cocktails and try to romance the evening away.   Roses are more expensive than any other day,  heart shaped chocolate candies can cost an arm and a leg. Jewelry is also marked up for this special day.

Therefore remember; Roses are red, violets are blue, if your down on your luck this is how to get more bang for your buck!

There is now a pill called the morning after pill, which a woman can take if she thinks she may have become pregnant the night before, these pills are even sold in vending machines at many college campuses throughout the country.  In the same spirit of the morning after pill, why not celebrate Valentines day, the day after? The day after everything goes on sale anywhere from 50-90%, restaurants are not as crowded, service will be less stressed and the menus may actually feature specials at reduced prices.

V.D. (Valentines Day) is a holiday that stresses romance. Many couples go out to dinner, have a few cocktails and try to romance the evening away. VD (Valentines day) can cost an arm and a leg, many restaurants raise prices for the evening, roses are more expensive on VD than any other day of the year and the heart shaped chocolate candies can range in price from a few dollars to a few hundred depending on how exotic you go. Jewelry is also marked up for this special day.

Many woman like to buy  their men underwear with hearts on. This is actually a tradition in many parts of the world for men to wear undershorts with a heart on.

 Just remember to use condom sense!   Happy Valentines Day!

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, Publisher.

"Facebook birthday greetings..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen'

"Time sure flies, birthdays come and go and before long your life has passed before your eyes..."
James Kimo" Rosen above at Rocky River Alaska across the bay from Homer Alaska 1985.

Birthday's are like any other day of the year, in fact every-day is some-body's birth-day. It's nice to be recognized, usually loved ones and close friends will send greetings, however with the advent of social media with such sources as Facebook, birthday greetings can now make one feel like a rock star.
I have over one  thousand friends on Facebook, most of whom I have no idea who they are. I started befriending everyone who sent me a friend invite and actually starting inviting others to be my friend on the recommendation of Facebook. I did this since I post a daily blog  on Facebook and was hoping for increased readership. The fact of the matter is; I do have an increased readership due to Facebook, in addition to many friends I have never met.
This past January I celebrated a  birthday and to my surprise I had over 100 birthday greetings, I think I knew 12 of the people who sent me a birthday greeting, all others I had no idea who they were, none the less it sure felt good thinking I really had that many friends! 
Now I can go back to being the quiet hermit I am until next January when again I will hopefully achieve rock-star stature!

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, Publisher.