If you have not read the works of Chuck Palahniuk by now then, well, you suck. If you have, then you already know that the author of Choke and Fight Club came out with a new book this week. Just started reading it, pretty good so far……
I have been finishing up on some classes and have not had time to write for fun lately. I will be back up and running very soon though. Until then, enjoy….
In March of 1959 President Eisenhower signed into law a bill that paved the way for the Hawaiian islands to become the 50th state in our union. That was 50 years ago. In June of 1959 locals were asked to vote for or against statehood. For the bill to pass 94% of the citizens of Hawaii had to agree to enter the union.
There is no doubt that the initial annexation of Hawaii as a colony was against the will of the people. Statehood was their choice.
Protesters Question Legitimacy of Statehood
You wouldn’t know it by the way people act these days though. For those of us that are living here temporarily, we often refer to our impending return to the mainland as our return to the States. Native Hawaiians make it known that they do not consider themselves a state by choice. Some of the more militant groups have forcibly taken over the old Hawaiian monarchy’s royal residence. They maintain that the islands are being “occupied” by the United States.
Native Hawaiians Blockade Historic Palace
Do we give the land back? How much money would it save in federal funds every year if we did? Leave a comment and any viable ideas will be published.
I received a comment the other day that peaked my interest. Scott had the following to say:
“Dude/ette, why is Hawaii not as cool as it used to be? Everywhere on epinions and traveladvisor I see the same thing -horrible customer service at hotels, rip offs like charging for hotel spaces or for *cell* phone use and then the traffic. It is pretty obvious that with terrorism the island has been overrun with haole tourists and really is starting to suck now. Or is it just me? Do I have a bad attitude?”
I do not believe that you have a bad attitude. Hawaii may have once been an unspoiled paradise but now it is overcrowded and, sorry to say, dirty. I think that the writers of SNL had it right a couple weeks ago when they did a skit about the island.
‘Saturday Night Live’ tourism skit stirs Hawaii
It is not a problem of Hawaiians versus the world either. It is a problem of proletariat versus proletariat that believes itself to be bourgeois. At least that is how it works on this island. The truly rich do not winter on Oahu. Small town Americas that saved for two years come here. They are the bread and butter of this fragile economy. Some of the middle class faux bougeois might show up at Turtle Bay and avoid Waikiki, but they are not as common as the Iowa couple that shows up for a honeymoon on the island. They come here and want to be treated like royalty, as if they are a class above the hotel workers. This causes animosity between workers and guests that carries out beyond the hotels and permeates the local population.
The tourists are a double edged sword and without them the islands would lose a vital industry. An already failing economy has worsened because the proletariat population of the mainland that once helped the area to flourish has virtually disappeared. Now local citizens employed in the hospitality fields are even more on edge because they are quickly losing jobs. This has not changed the ever increasing cost of living that has forced many to live in tents on the beaches that are supposed to be a mecca for travelers.
Homeless on Oahu Beach
This is the conundrum that is Oahu. The vastly unspoiled beauty that once was Hawaii is all but gone now. It has been replaced by Starbucks, Zippy’s, and pup tents.
As I said in previous posts, one of the FEW redeeming qualities of this rock is the Pro Bowl. Every year the players practice at a school on the West end of the island. A friend and I went over and were pleased to see a few quality players taking time out for their fans. Once again, Chris Cooley of the Washington Redskins was one of those players. It is nice to see players that remember that without fan support, the NFL would not exist. As with any business, you need to sell the product.
Great job all around to all the guys who took time for the fans! I will post some of my pics from the game soon.
Witten & Cooley
I found an amusing story online today. Some Austin area hackers changed the message two of those electric “construction ahead” signs the other day. Instead of road work warnings, they were made to warn of ZOMBIES!
Hopefully the hacker keeps his/her head low. The city wants to prosecute. I think it was the first time that anyone actually paid attention to those signs.
According to a recent press release from the Hawaii Department of Transportation, the state has proposed spending nearly 2 BILLION dollars correcting issues with the highways on Oahu over the next 6 years. This is at a time when local schools are facing budget cuts and closures due to the fiscally irresponsible government. The roads and transportation system on the island is tragically flawed, but I question if throwing more money at the problem is the solution.
There has been construction on the Kam. Highway from the North Shore to Wahiawa since September of 08. This is a major thoroughfare for the community and traffic gets backed up when they decide to shut down the flow in one direction for construction. A simple 15 mile drive can take upwards of 45 minutes. Couple this with the potholes and poor storm drainage elsewhere on the island and a daily commute can be a headache to say the least. The problem is that the workers seem to be paid by the hour, not by their commitment to finishing the job. Almost five months after the job was started, there is very little “improvement” that can be seen on this one stretch of road. And there is no end in site.
Some people work, and some people show up for work. When a mass transit rail system was placed on the ballot last year there were those that were opposed to the idea because there were no Hawaiian based firms being shopped to build it. Perhaps that is the saddest statement of all. When a state would rather employ those outside of it’s state to work on big projects, the people should question their work ethic.
I got a kick out of an article published on the net a couple days ago. According to Washington Post, the new White House Staff struggled a bit when they came to work and found “a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.” One of the complaints seemed to be that all of the computer systems were running on Microsoft programs from 2003. I am not the most computer literate person in the world but I do know that for some odd reason Widows 2003 is 10x less problematic than Vista. Of course, Obama and his staff have been widely publicized as Mac people, so… Hopefully they update Quicken so they can finally get the budget in order.
It has been rumored since I got here, but it has officially been announced now that the NFL Pro Bowl will not be returning to Hawaii for the 2010 season. Instead, the plan is to have the same city that will be hosting the Super Bowl (which will be Miami next season) also host the Pro Bowl. The game will be held a week PRIOR to the Super Bowl.
What will the loss of this very lucrative event have on the economy of this state? Well, according to various sources, the Pro Bowl has drawn 25,000 tourists in the past, spending close to $30 million locally. With state tourism already down an estimated 7%, this is going to be a drastic blow to all local businesses that are already struggling.
Aloha Stadium was built in 1975 and is in need of many updates. While there are NFL stadiums that are older (Lambeau Field for example was built in 1955) most of those have been fully refurbished and updated. In 2008 $185 million was allocated to renovate Aloha Stadium. It is unclear at this time when those renovations will take place, or if it will be enough to draw the Pro Bowl back in 2011.
Wow, 2008 is finally over! Can’t say I will miss any of it. I spent the last year here, in Hawaii, with my husband in Iraq. My mother fought cancer, and lost. I got closer to the end of my BA, and closer to the end of my MGIB money. I watched the markets crumble thanks to sub-primes, oil hit $100 a barrel, water was found on Mars, and Bill Gates stepped down as the Chairman of Microsoft.
One more year down… tic-tock, tic-tock, time moves on. Every new year I ask myself a simple question. Am I making forward progress or am I just spinning my wheels? Hopefully this year will be a bit more productive for me with less family drama.
I hope each of you had the best 2008 you could have had. If something bothers you BITCH about it, get it off your chest and move the fuck on. Make each day of 2009 the best you can, even when the world is raining shit on you. And more than anything else…
ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE.