"New Born's in this century..." '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

New Born's in this century

Are we indulging our new Born's in this century??

Many of our friends who are in the Baby Boomer age range are now becoming grandparents. It's a wonderful thing to watch grandparents interacting with these little people while bringing back all our parenting memories of our little ones. When we had our children back in the 1980's, times were much simpler. My parents would tell me how even simpler times were when I was born, basic toys and basic needs were required to raise a child.

Our little ones rooms' were equipped with the traditional mobile of stuffed animals that sang and hung above their heads at bed time. A few little toys in the crib kept them busy until they fell asleep in their own cribs and a baby monitor was placed on their dresser to give us peace of mind when they slept.

Simple contraptions surrounded the room such as a “walker”, which was a circular seat propped on wheels to give them mobility and of course play pens that encouraged them to play on their own while mom and dad could do things around the house such as cooking and cleaning and taking a break for relaxation.

I watched my friend exhaust herself changing, feeding and playing with her granddaughter and am a believer that children are meant for the younger generation to raise. The stamina that is needed to tend to a baby is intense and you better be in good shape to entertain, feed, change and watch that little one.

The array of toys and contraptions available today to aid in the raising of a baby is astounding. Rooms are filled with machines to make sounds enabling them to sleep. There is equipment making ocean noises, rocking machines and other contraptions that move, rock and sing etc and are available with a bevy of other electronics. 

When my children were at that young age, we simply rocked them for a few minutes, maybe walked them around in a dark room to relax them and then carefully placed them in a dim room in the crib with maybe a mobile singing above their head. At times they would fuss for a few minutes, tire themselves out and learned how to self comfort themselves and go to sleep.

Today the things I see that are used to entertain, calm and assure sleep is alarming. These advances in technology do surely work to relax our little ones but what will happen when they begin to grow up?

Will they know how to fall asleep on their own? If it is a learned behavior that they need to hear, feel and use these props to enable sleep, how will they be able to undo and self adjust these behaviors at an older age.

As we age at times, it is harder to fall asleep with all the stimulation we are bombarded with during the day. Even today it is recommended to perform a quiet task, relax and wind down before bed time to ensure falling asleep. I wonder if we require electronic relaxation techniques at birth, will that carry throughout our entire lives.

The baby industry has advanced into a huge money making business; just walk into a baby store today, you will be amazed at the items for purchase...better bring a thick wallet before entering.

 Many new parents want the latest and greatest for their new baby and judging from the “wish list” from their shower registry the list is endless. Never the less, having a new baby, grand baby or new addition to the family is still a miracle of life for all to enjoy and be amazed by.

"Judy, Judy, Judy!"

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"A Theory of Happiness..." 'Chester "Unc" Lau' (Source)

Dakinetalk's favorite Uncle (Chester Lau)

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

'Unc' currently resides on the Hawai'ian Island of Oahu. 

He is a retired cinematographer,

 and  enjoys giving the politicians a bad time...

A Theory of Happiness

A therapist has a theory that couples who make love once a day are the happiest. So he decides to test this theory. He convenes all the couples he can find at a special seminar.

He then starts by asking the many people in the audience.  “How many people here make love once a day?”
Half the people raise their hands, each of them grinning widely.

“Once a week?”

A third of the audience members raise their hands, their grins a bit less vibrant.

"How many of you make love once a month?” A few hands tepidly go up. No grins could be sighted. 

Then he asks, “OK, how about once a year?” To his shock, one man in the back jumps up and down, jubilantly waving his hands and whistling.

The therapist is shocked—this man's reaction completely disproves his theory! “If you make love only once a year,” he asks, “why are you so happy?”

The man yells, “Today’s the day!”






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Make Kaua'i Great Again..." '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!
Bettejo has a gift of mingling
 the present, the past, and the future. 

www.bettejodux.com

www.amazon.com

Make Kaua'i Great Again

...again?

Doesn't this imply  once it was great and now it's not?

If  so, then wouldn't it  be true, only one who lived on Kauai during its great period could respond? I mean,  what changed? To go from greatness to not so great must mean something changed.

My husband and I sailed to Kauai in 1969. We tied up at the sea wall in Nawilili, just around the corner, as it were, from one of the hottest hot spot saloons on the island. The first person we met was Walter Brian--Head of the Water Department--we'd known  him on Oahu--and my husband was headed towards a job as Engineering Department Head of McBryde Sugar.

Sugar was King.  Actually, managers of sugar plantations were Kings. Department Heads and their wives were Lords and Ladies. There was an inside joke:  haolis lived in the haoli camps;  field hands lived in Japanese camps, Filipino camps,  Portuguese camps. But-- by our time-- racism was floundering. There were lots of  shanties.  Warm. Dry. It was a feudal state,  but McBryde was  benevolent.  Mules--Brownie, Blackie and Caliban-- wore saddles filled with seed cane to replant at planting season. It was a great life, for most of us. Bill loved the men he worked with, they loved him. Bobby Pfeifer was President, CEO, and  Chairman of the Board of Alexander and Baldwin of which McBryde was a totally owned subsidiary.  There couldn't have been a better man at the helm.

Cane was a dollar crop. Grown to maturity for almost two years.  Burned to harvest. Cane fires flared in  splendor in the still winds of early morning sky. Then milled and shipped to California to be refined and packaged and sent back home.  Alexander and Baldwin is Matson, remember?  Those guys didn't go to school to carry their lunch. Sugar kept their ships full going out and full coming back.

This glorious field of long tall grass worked with grace and beauty to keep our air fresh. The air on Kauai,  clean and invigorating,  filled our lungs with the essence of life. Of health. Breathing is the most important thing we do on this planet.  Breath bad air, breath illness and misery and death.

I see more cars--spewing stink and CO2 and sporting angry drivers--driving to Lihue  then there were on the island when we arrived. Today, on Kauai, there are places where you should wear a little white mask to keep your lungs working.

We'd little crime. Few homeless.  Few unemployed.  We weren't rich, but, for the most part, we were happy. Put a dollar sign on that.

Recently someone suggested we contact young Mark Zukerberg--philanthropist-- to get us back on track.

May I humbly suggest we contact Ted Turner? He's a philanthropist. He owns over two million acres of land. "The sad thing about destroying the environment is that we're going to take the rest of life with us..." I think Bobby and Bill would have loved him. I do

Bettejo breaking bread and
 discussing life with her friend
and mentor, Richard Dawkins.

Bettejo endorses Steve Saylor for President, Check out his YouTube videos'.
Mr. Saylor lives on Kaua'i 6 months of the year....
Video #1;
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PPMPsVJoz4
Video #2;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKV8lFyv4e0
Video #3;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOoER6zcLZo
Video-#4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12qq10y8OAg
Video #5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nbDn6dyOAc
Newest video #6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsbZSzIQtHA

Bettejo's new priceless possession is Richard Dawkins' "Brief  Candle in the Dark."

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) Shared From James "Kimo" Rosen

To all Kauai County council members, HELP! 'Glenn Mickens' (Special Kauai county edition of dakinetalk blog)

Glenn Mickens has lived on Kauai  with his wife Ruth for the last 26 years. Born July 26, 1930 in Wilmar, California, USA) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in four games (two of which were starts) for the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. He also played for five years in Japan, from 1959 until 1963 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. There, he compiled a record of 45–53 with a 2.54 ERA.  Glenn also  served in the Army for 2 years and coached baseball at UCLA for 25 years. 
Last but not least Glenn would really like to see Kauai give the county manager style of Government a chance.

To all Kauai County council members, HELP!

Mr. Mickens is locally known
as one of Kauai county's
political watchdogs.
Mahalos Glenn!

I know I am being repetitive about this North shore, South shore, and East side transit feasibility study however I get no answers from the Kauai  county council  or from the administration. I will continue my quest for answers. 

 I understand that under council rules you cannot answer me directly/  I would  none the less appreciate the courtesy of your possibly answering me or referring to my questions when the meeting is called back to order. 

 I want to know why Kauai county keeps hiring consultants to tell us that bikes, buses, shuttles and walking are the answers to solving our traffic problems? With all due respect to these consultants who are obviously hired to tell the administration what they want to hear they completely fail to give us answers to our major problem--traffic. 

Over and over I repeat that the mass of the people will never abandon their vehicles for any of their so called solutions. They have not been able to show you any municipality such as ours (an island like Kauai with 70 thousand people) that has a system such as they propose that is successfully used. 

You obviously know that the contraflow system some wise engineer put into use years ago works and works well. It is proof that if we had one more lane in that road traffic could be lessened just as it is with the contraflow lanes. By paving and using the cane haul roads all over the island for alternate routes, traffic will never disappear, but congestion might.  Yes, our highways are state controlled but this is one island and we shouldn't have to point the finger at the state and them point the finger at us. We should have coordination with both entities. But where is the leadership? Leadership that a county manager could give us?

Shouldn't long range plans or pilot projects be done that show statistical success rates and not just speculative forecasts with no facts to back it up?

 We did a pilot shuttle project on the North shore and it was a complete failure. Private enterprise tried to make it go and  not enough riders were available to make it profitable. It needed to be subsidized but the hotels. The county when asked said, "no" and thus it folded. I have said many times we also did the pilot program with free bus rides for 1500 county employees and only 50 people used it--another failure. 

So before we spend thousands of more dollars on consultants to tell us fantasy instead of facts lets hire people to factor in what is going to be done for the driving public which is here to stay. With a county manager we could solve problems and not watch them get worse by the day---for locals as well as visitors.




P.S.
Check out Glenn's Wikipedia page;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Mickens

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"Burger King Listened..!" 'James "Kimo" Rosen' (Kimo's world #115)

James "Kimo" Rosen is a retired professional photographer
 and amongst other things lived in a tent outdoors for 7 years.
Rosen currently resides on the tropical island of Kaua'i
with his best friend and spiritual adviser Obama Da Dog!

Kimo's world #115

Burger King Listened

In response to the USA today article on why is Burger King selling Hot Dogs now?
The simple answer is, because of me!  The untold story, click on URL below;
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/23/burger-king-hot-dog-launch-confusion/80809078/ 

Many of the regular readers of this blog and my close friends know that I frequent the Kapa'a Burger King for  my coffee or diet coke break on a regular basis.  Many times I will engage in conversation with others whom are sitting alone in the lounge area, I call the VIP lounge.

It was approximately one year  ago while drinking a diet coke and talking story with whom I found  was a Burger King VP visiting from the mainland. I proceeded to tell him about some ideas I thought would help BK make more money and satisfy their customers.

My first idea was,  why not grill hot dogs? A lot of people are wondering why the King of the Whopper is selling hot dogs now? (Because I gave them the idea!) 

I am a little upset since they are not fresh grilled. They grill the dogs in the morning and microwave them in the bun once you order. None the less I feel other fast food franchises like Micky D's and Wendy's will follow suit.

The BK franchises  already have the grill and dogs are easier to prepare than Hamburgers. The other item I requested was to bring  back the awesome chili made with the left over burgers from the previous day. They used to do this  at  the Hawai'ian  franchises around 10 years ago and it was the most delicious, filling and affordable dish on the menu.  I think they got rid of it because it was inexpensive and was a meal within itself--people didn't need to order burgers to satisfy their appetite. I think maybe it made them lose money, since it was so onolicious.  (ono means delicious inn Hawaiian)

I feel pretty sure that they took my idea about the dogs and ran with it. The only thing is, I asked the manager how are the dogs, "good" she replied, "I like the chili dog best!"   I figured this was the clue where she would say, "would you like to try one compliments of the King?" 

I am still waiting, you figure the least they could do is comp a free dog, especially after this went nation wide with my idea!

I still can't figure why they didn't make a Whopper 1/4 lb dog like Costco, especially since the name 'Whopper' is patented and copyrighted by BK international. Just imagine  going in and asking for a Whopper of a wienie!! In the meantime go in and order your dog, tell em, "Kimo sent you, and that I'm still waiting for my  comp dog!"

Now imagine if they go with my 'Whopper of a wienie concept, then they'll  hopefully comp me meals for life!

P.S.
Check out Snoop Dog in a YouTube for Burger King Grilled Dogs!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=FA9EVqDDat8

P.S.S.
This review isn't so so great...
http://kotaku.com/burger-king-makes-hot-dogs-now-and-theyre-fine-i-guess-1760888380

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“Bad Jews” a relevant topic even today..." '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.

Bad Jews” a relevant topic even today

 This weekend we were joined by our good friends to enjoy a local play at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) performed by
4 very talented people called “Bad Jews”. The topic of who should get specific belongings of the deceased after the dust settled was a major part of the play along with intermarriage which is still a
topic discussed through the ages.

 One of the grandsons' of the deceased carried a piece of jewelry that he owned and kept all through the holocaust that had a great amount of symbolism and meaning to the family. It was a necklace with the symbol of the Hebrew letter “ Chai” which means life to the Jewish people. Many Jews today wear that symbol and it was to be passed down to the family after the grandfathers death.

The Hebrew letter Chai which means
life is an integral part of Judaism.
It also has the numeric equivalent of
18. Many Jews when giving
charity give in multiples of 18.
18~180~1,800~ 36~360~3600...

 

The bickering and
fighting carried through the entire play until the eldest grandson introduced a non-Jew he wanted to marry and use the necklace to propose with. 

The thought of the necklace going to a non-Jew whom did not understand what meaning the symbol had to this family was unbearable for one of the family members to accept.  As she ripped it off the fiance her cousin wanted to marry, it became clear why it should have never been given to her. 

The grandfather carried this symbol in his mouth to save it from the Germans during the holocaust and used it to propose to his wife after the war because it was all he had at the time in place of an engagement ring. 

The final words in the play came out of mouth of the
non-Jew. All she was worried about at the time were the germs she may have contracted when the necklace was ripped off of her neck.

Interfaith marriages have been happening more and more in our country as the amount of Jews is not growing substantially. Most Jewish family have become much smaller with the parents only producing 2-3 children and do not have large families
of the past. 
We are becoming assimilated and worry about the many years in the future down the line that if this interfaith continues at the rate of today...how many Jews will be left??

Further reading on "Bad Jews"~Bad Jews' doesn’t sound funny, but it is...~
http://buffalo.com/2016/02/06/news/theater/theater-reviews/bad-jews-doesnt-sound-funny-but-it-is/

Judy, Judy, Judy!  ;-)

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"In the matter of feral cats..." 'Ali’ilani Kanui' ~Kit Ellison~(Special to dakinetalk)

 Please welcome back friend and  guest-blogger Ali’ilani Kanui AKA Kit Ellison.
Kit and her family love animals, especially feral cats and  have canvassed for a
Ferry system on the Hawaiian Islands for many years.
Kit  is part Hawaiian and  a long time
 resident of Wailua on the Garden Isle of Kaua'i.

In the matter of feral cats

We have just been informed of the "capture" of one of our fur family who was stolen last May.  He was found by the Feral Cat Project, the group that does the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) program on the west side and taken to the vet in Kalaheo!  

We live on the East side, how else could he get to the west side unless he was stolen? Also, as he was born with one blind eye, had he been taken to the pound, he would have been put down. Thank God the vet checked for his chip. It seems not all feral are ferals' but stolen pets some neighbor didn't like.

There is another truth that needs to be addressed, the fallacy of fed feral cats being a threat to endangered bird population. Fed cats may play with and kill rats and mice however seldom, if ever, bother birds because they are too much trouble and they are getting free meals means they don't have the need to hunt birds. 

What about cats in endangered bird areas? Trap, neuter then release to an established colony away from endangered nesting areas. It would work.

Then you have those irresponsible people who do not or will not spay/neuter their cats therefore dumping unwanted kittens to fend for themselves or die. These people should be heavily fined and face jail time.  Killing the ferals' is not the answer, managing colonies is. 

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) Shared from Facebook...