"How long have you lived here..?" 'James 'Kimo" Rosen' ( Column)

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 was published in my bi-weekly column in the Kaua'i Garden
Island news on 05-05-14 titled, "How long have you live here..?" Please click on
the link below and check recommend...
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/how-long-have-you-lived-here/article_f6e84d68-d41a-11e3-950e-001a4bcf887a.html

How Long have you live here

When Ronald Reagan was  President he disagreed with "Tip" O'Neill, the democratic speaker of the house numerous times. Reagan being a republican and the speaker being a democrat  made for frequent disagreements, however when the business day was over they often shared a cocktail or even dinner together as friends.  O'Neill and President Reagan managed to work together even with their numerous differences on policy and government. 

President Obama on the other hand and the current republican speaker of the house John Boehner are in constant battle over everything and anything and appears they do not enjoy each other in the off hours. It has  become the norm  for republicans and democrats to verbally fight  each other with warlike partisan battles in lieu of doing whats pono (right) for America. Even in real everyday life it has gotten to the point if you do not think like me, I cannot talk to you or be your friend.

I  enjoy blogging and having the opportunity to express myself in a bi-weekly column here in the Garden island news, however  it has gotten to be if I write something someone disagree's with they with stop talking to me. They  will give me stink eye in public and even un-friend me on Facebook, just because they may have disagreed with something I said in a column or blog.  

Please don't get me wrong, I truly enjoy  writing a column, it's a bucket list dream come true.I have learned that   it takes a thick skin of which I have developed over the years  to be an opinion columnist, however I can only imagine how thick your skin must be to be a politician. 

The current GMO debate is the most erroneous debate I have seen locally beside the super ferry debate. If you are Pro GMO you are  evil and if your anti GMO you are stupid and ignore science, both sides hate each other even before they try and get the facts.

This goes one step further;

"I have found that the Aloha spirit here, for some, lasts only as long as you agree with them..."

There is a frequently asked question in Hawai'i which equates somewhat to partisan politics. "How long have you lived here?" I used to despise that question since it is usually asked in an arrogant way. It's a seniority type thing.  If one is in Hawaii 30 years, they are better than somebody whose been here 20 years, someone who is in Hawaii 20 years is better than someone who has been here ten, and someone born and raised here is better than anybody including  all of you reading this.   

I was always under the influence that  a person who actually moves on their own free will is actually  where they are by choice, whereas a person born wherever and never left  is only there because their parents happened to live there the day they were born. 

The newcomer has gone out of their way to be in Hawaii which actually makes one a stronger Hawai'ian. Like a convert to a religion, they are usually the strongest congregants because that religion is their choice, not just a religion they were born into.

I recently saw a meme post on Facebook that exemplifies this subject. The meme shows a photo of an American Indian couple sitting outside a  teepee, it said, "A redneck told us to go back to where we came from, so we pitched our teepee in his backyard."

The world is changing, we need to start accepting differences of opinions in each other without major meltdowns  and going off on one-another.

I just have one question, how long have you lived here?

http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/how-long-have-you-lived-here/article_f6e84d68-d41a-11e3-950e-001a4bcf887a.html

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook

"Finally, a week without snow...." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York and has worked in

the ophthalmology field of medicine for over 30 years.

Finally, a week without snow

Well now that is May, we in the North country have managed to make it for a week without snow flakes...yes you would think it would be safe to put out spring plants but not in Buffalo NY...

I have been self inspiring myself by watching TV shows like Hoarders and Flipping this house and now am ready to start my Spring cleaning and purging of the non essentials lurking around the house.

The grass is starting to grown and flower bulbs awakening...I feel renewed for another year; it has been a looong winter here and am also preparing myself for another trip to the West Coast for some REAL SUN that is in the sky for days at a time...it somehow renews the soul to just feel that Sun after such a long hibernation.

Happy late  Spring to Everyone.

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

"First time posting a food photo..." James "Kimo" Rosen

TC's on Kauai is one of the most reasonably restaurants I have
come across in my time on the Garden island....

Where does one eat when their home is being fumigated?

Aloha all, First time I ever posted a food photo from a restaurant....

My home is being fumigated and have been eating out the last few days until we are let back in. All 38 units are connected so we need to be out. 

I have always been disappointed in food prices on Kaua'i... A burger at a food truck can cost $12.00 or more. Today I found a restaurant right in the middle of a tourist haven at the Coconut marketplace called, "T.C's"--- $6.95 for a half pond burger and fresh cut salad with papaya seed dressing on the side.

TC's is the most affordable menu I have seen for any sit down restaurant on the Garden Island, it is situated in a Polynesian hut. I highly recommend this restaurant for anyone sick of being ripped off. My waitress bent over backwards to make me happy, along with decent prices, great service and huge portions, I believe this to be one of the best bangs for your buck on dining out on the Garden island.

I am praying all goes smooth....

No, the circus is not in town, they are fumigating and tenting the residences where I live
 We all hope all the gasses and chemicals dissipate...

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"Love..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on the cosmic Garden Island of Kaua'i for over 40 years.Bettejo is a regular columnist in the Garden Island news and is the author of the
famed novella, "The Scam."

Love

Isn't that a beautiful word? Four letters. One syllable. The hard vowel-v-softened by the 'la' and the 'oh'.  People  love words. And they're free, you know. You can write them, or speak them,  or  hear them.

Some people love words like superccalifragilisticexpialidocious.

The word has been defined as follows: super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and -docious "educable", with the sum of these parts signifying roughly "Atoning for educability through delicate beauty." It is defined as 'something to say when you have nothing to say'.

I think that says it all. Bernard Russell said, "Beware the guy who cannot say it simply." But note, please, some people 'love' words like that. Love is the key. The subject, here. This simple word can be a verb, "I love you". A noun,"Love is all." An adjective, "A love nest." The subject of a proposition, "He did it for love."

Forgive me, that's a bettejo. I love to be a 'creative' writer. Break all the rules.  Full speed ahead.

The point is, you can love anything. Everything. You can love books. You can love cats. You can love people. Oe a people. People  belonging to a place, religion, nation, race, language, class or culture. People  living on Kauai.In Hawaii. Golly, you can love all people. That's a happy, healthy  thing to do.

"All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need"

I think I'll write a song. Oh, darn it,  somebody already did.

The world is so full of such beautiful things, I think we should all sing and let love praises ring.

I think we can grok love to fullness.

I think we can dance love.

I know you can fall in  love with the scent of honey. Or Night Blooming Jasmine. Or plumeria.

You can fall in love with a forest glade, a seascape, a mountain peak, a cloudy sky, a desert in bloom, a field of poppies, a green meadow full of contented  cows or frolicking goat or horses or mules.

You can get lost in  a reverie of love in the shade. Under a tree. On a ski slope or a garden path. Riding. Swimming. Sailing. In a class room of  happy children. In a restaurant of satisfied  diners. In a theater  filled with laughter.

I think laughter is almost always the sound of love.

Find a comfortable chair, grab a cushion, sip a chilly cold drink-Chardonnay  goes well here, with crackers= and cheese= and read a poem.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee ..........

Watch a fun love film. Some Like it Hot. A classic.

I think we should have a happy love hour-not just in a pub-but  in the schools, at job sites, in the work place.

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

"Deposit returns, a win win for everybody..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen' (Best of Dakinetalk)

This blog originally appeared  as dakinetalk
blog #146 on 08-08-10
http://dakinetalk.blogspot.com/2010/08/deposit-returns-win-win-for-everbody.html

Deposit returns, a win win for everybody

When I was a child you could buy a bottle of soda and the corner store or grocery store and return it to the same store yo bought it at for a deposit. many state have started this procedure again.

Most people living in Hawaii do not even know where to go to recycle, and why drive 20 miles to receive a $1.00 refund, it costs more in gas. The solution is not more deposit money to be collected but to have the store that sold the item accept it back.

OK, you say it's going to cost the store too much money having to hire someone to do this job? My sister who lives in Buffalo N.Y. told me every convenient type store and grocery store has a Kiosk type machine, available 24-7, that scans your returns and gives you your deposit money back on the spot. Many states have adopted this user friendly procedure.

I hope our state and local government's can adopt a similar procedure, it would be win win for everybody, the consumer gets his deposit back at his next visit to the grocery store and the grocery store has people returning more frequently,hopefully they stop in and buy something.

The only problem I see is that the current way makes it easy for the state to keep the deposit since most don't bother with returns.

Could it be our politicians just don't want to improve the system?

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

"Sadly, antisemitism is still alive...." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York and has worked in

the ophthalmology field of medicine for over 30 years.

Sadly, antisemitism  is still alive

Being born in the 1950’s just 10 yrs after the end of WWII our world still remembered what happened in Europe and specifically Germany all too well.  The wave of antisemitism was still fresh in
every ones’ mind  and most Jews in this country were mindful of not making their heritage stand out. 

I remember when starting public school I did not speak of my ethnic background, wear any jewelry announcing what my faith was and tried to blend in.  Even though the war was fought in Europe, there was plenty of antisemitism in the United States and across the world. I remember well our anti-Semitic neighbors when I was a small child and how scared I felt.   

It has been over 60 years since the War in Europe ended where my dad fought with many of my friends parents and we all learned that History could repeat itself if we did not keep the past in the present.

  I married within my faith, raised my children as such and made sure they knew  about the past and what happened to our people,  and how they almost became extinct.  They were raised to become proud of their faith and did not grow up feeling the same fear I did as a child. I am horrified about what I am now hearing in Ukraine and how once again the Jews are being singled out and counted just as they were in Nazi Germany so many years ago.  How can history  be repeating itself again?  Why is it that in hard times we single out a race to be the scape goat  ?

Antisemitism has never left our world; it only waits for an  opportunity to rear its ugly head when an opportunity  presents itself.  There will always be followers and there will always be leaders;  have we become any smarter, any more educated as to what the right thing to do is? 

When I hear things like “you must sign up to identify yourselves”, as they are trying to do in Ukraine, I get a sick feeling  once again as I did so many years ago.  The survivors from the holocaust in Germany and Europe are disappearing and ageing out and although they have tried to document their stories to be preserved for all time, there are still many disbelievers of the event despite the evidence that remains in Europe.  I can only hope and pray  that people have become more intelligent and humanistic over the years and come to realize that we are all God’s children ; we  are a melting pot of humans that can coexist  with some effort.  We all have gifts to offer, we all have a right to live on this earth – The
Jews have a saying, “he who saves a life, saves the world”.  We live by that mantra – it is the very thought that kept people alive in the concentration camps; the will to live and survive.

Despite all the hatred that still exists among us today, I still try and believe there is some good in everyone.  No one person is born with hate; hatred  is taught and nurtured by those that only have hate
in their hearts.  We as a human race have come a long way from the antiquated thinking of decades behind us; we are now more accepting of same sex marriages and freedom of expression that could not have taken  place in the 1950’s.  

We still have a long way to go in accepting peoples beliefs;  I am hoping that in my lifetime we can show no tolerance for persecution of peoples beliefs and become more accepting of peoples differences.  

How boring life would be if we all believed in the same thing and could not exchange different ideas.  I pray for peace and acceptance in our next decade of life on earth.

P.S.
Sign the petition,
Ensure Ukraine  Jewish registry is not enforced!
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/secretary-of-state-of-the-united-states-ensure-ukraine-jewish-registry-is-not-enforced-and-does-not-escalate


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This blog originally appeared on 3-17-10 Dakinetalk blog #66

Blogger's addiction


Some people are addicted to alcohol, some to drugs, others to caffeine, sugar and junk food.

A person can be addicted to anything from bubble gum to sex and places in between.

There is one addiction I am trying to overcome which is the most addicting of all addictions, blogging  addiction. I am faithfully a member of  blogger's anonymous and am trying to curtail my blogging . Like any addiction,  blogging  need's support of fellow friends and associates.

So please try and help me curtail my addiction, or else you will need to continue reading my most inner thoughts, or is this addiction incurable? 

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