Sunday musings

Well, our time in the sun here on the Sandwich Islands is done.
Over.
Finished.
Did I mention done?
Oh...
Anyway this will be a long day as we leave at almost midnight and travel to arrive home in the early morning meaning by the time we call it a day for real, we will have been up for about 36 odd hours.
It is the price one pays for a long flight back against time zones but a small one to pay when compared to what was experienced.
As mentioned before, little news of the world filters through so be ready (hopefully) for a bunch of cranky opinions next posting!
That being said, some news did catch the headlines here, albeit only with some serious searching.
The Argentine peso continues its steep slump and to add insult to injury, the authorities have boosted power rates in the country by up to 27% in some areas all the while every region is suffering crippling brown and blackouts of long duration during an extreme middle summer heat wave.
Really good timing by the bureaucrats...and yes that was sarcasm.
The Canadian dollar (loony to some) is also at 10 year lows vs the USA dollar. And yet voices are raised in cheer from the export sector as those products are now cheaper to sell. Anyone protesting is labelled as a spoiled rich person because their winter "vacations" paid in US money are now more costly.
Something seems a little off in that logic from each example.
There is a World Economic Summit being held in Davos, Switzerland.
You notice they are always held in areas where the average person cannot afford to visit?
Has there ever been one held in, say, Tijuana or the poorer areas of Mexico City, an American or Canadian First Nations Reserve?
Never gonna happen.
And what will come from this extravaganza?
Nothing.
Just a photo op and some lame sound bites.
What a waste of time and resources.
The Winter Olympics start fairly soon in Sochi, Russia amid concerns about security for the Olympic Officials, their families, girl and boyfriends....oh...maybe the athletes but really in the big picture, only the big wigs from the IOC count - right?
Just ask them.
As an aside, how many people even care about the Olympics anymore?
So called amatuer sports riddled with professional atheletes - NHL players for hockey in the winter games and NBA players for basketball in the summer games. And really, how blasted relevant are "sports" like javelin throwing or speedskating anyway to anyone other than the participants and the TV networks (don't forget the obscenely paid IOC royalty!) anyway?
As relevant as a pimple on your...well, you get the idea I think.
 Enough of that for this week, last time for sun and chill.
Friday night we went to another outdoor street festival in the small town of Kihei and had a great time viewing many types of local and imported products and souvenirs (and yes, all the tacky Island remembrances are made is Asia) and sample really, really good food at a number of local imbiss (aha- your new German word for the week!) stands and mingled with a very friendly crowd.
And Saturday, one last breakfast at the Baquette Bistro in Kihei, one wishes there was one in every town. As it is, there is a sister Bistro in Burnaby, British Columbia so that is on our to visit list this year.
So, until next week, here are a few last snaps from these wonderful Sandwich Islands,

take care out there,

flatlander 53

"Aloha a hui hou"

Sunday musings

Amazingly some news from the outside world has made it here to the Sandwich Islands.
First off, some unsettling news from Argentina, that fabulous country.
Just 2 years ago while visiting, the exchange rate of the US dollar to the Argentine Peso was an unofficial or "blue" 4.75P to 1 US$. Now news reports indicate the rate is over 10P to 1 US$ - an incredible slide in the value of the peso and indicative of inflation and an economy out of control.
This does not portend good things for the average citizen.
And the government acts like nothing is amiss.
Troubling future ahead one thinks.
As well, the country now also mourns the passing of one of its most well known poets, Juan Gelman at the age of 83.
In Syria - what else except continued carnage and death - hello the United Nations????
And in the CAR or Central African Republic murder and violence explodes with scores dying and the world does squat and once again - hello the United Nations???
Iran is bragging to all that will listen that in the signing of the recent agreement to reduce and remove certain economic sanctions in return for inspection of nuclear processing sites that it has "won" the battle and that the world community backed down.
Sure sounds eerily similar to the successful blackmail that North Korea subjects the world to - always seemingly "blinking" according to passive news media but in reality always coming out ahead without giving up anything in return.
Hello the United Nations????
Great start to 2014 for that useless waste of money isn't it?
In America, it just seems that the so called Obamacare health care reforms are being consumed by a boondoggle of ineptitude. Hardly any one seems to be signing up, the total cost structure remains unknown and not a single happy person as a result. As an outsider one cannot grasp whether the plan is so deeply flawed or deeply fought against by entrenched political and medical foes. It does seem like the American taxpayer is the real loser so far, not to mention anyone ill and needing healthcare.
Sad, really sad.
In a story that is probably identical to many, many other developed countries, a report out of Canada estimates that Canadians waste/throw away over 27 billion worth of food a year.
Imagine that.
If only we could harness a way of reducing that by a modest 20% - what a fiscal boon it would be to the average Canadian and also what a potential sharing of food resources with NO sacrifice from the wasting countries and can tremendously benefit countries that desperately need foodstuffs of all sorts.
Surely there can be a way?
The way of Democracy is under attack in the Ukraine it seems.
This week laws were passed severely restricting public protests and that s not a good thing. The first step to dictatorship is that step which is proudly proclaimed as "good for the people".
Aha - your German word for the day?
Endzeitstimmung.
And yes, sometimes it does feel like the world has come to an end.
OK, here on the Sandwich Islands we had 2 wonderful events happen to us this past week.
First was a superb morning meal at a place called the Baguette Bistro in the small town of Kihei. You go in and the people working there (one hesitates to just call them "staff") greet you warmly and assist you superbly. Indeed after becoming jaded to the well practised and (one suspects cynical) almost robotic "how's the meal?" at most establishments, you actually know that when they ask if there is anything that is not spot on that they really care - incredible. The portions are a welcome change from either the all-ya-can- put- on- a- plate or the equally sad hummingbird portion at eagle prices that are so prevalent these days. Just enough to fill but not to over capacity - excellent. The food - ahh, so good....
So, if in Kihei, here is their website: http://www.baguettebistromaui.com/
Your stomach and wallet will approve!

The other event was one of those once in a lifetime things that you do not plan and until part way through it, do not realize what is truly happening but when you do - it is like rockets going off.
We went to a concert in Kahului,under the stars the other night by a group called Hapa.
They also featured a young lady, Manalani English, Miss Aloha Hula 2013 who performed to three of their songs.
And what a performance she gave.
Until you have seen her, you have not ever seen the hula done properly.
Fluid, sensual and conveying meaning without words and seemingly without elbow or wrists so smooth was she.
And Hapa, they performed so brilliantly in front of  a crowd that was so respectful and appreciative that one could only marvel, and with the canopy of twinkling  stars overhead, well, hearing them was like rainbows could sing...
One knew that at that moment, life was perfect and as it should be and for that I am so grateful.
Look up Hapa, listen to their music and be enthralled.
flatlander52
A hui huo!!!

rumour has it that the poor fellow para surfing in this picture goes by the name-flatlander52!

Sunday musings

OK, this week, not a peep on what is happening in the world but a look at what one can discover by going off the beaten path here in the Sandwich Islands.
We went to a mall in the town of Kahului, the Queen Ka'ahamanu, and while gawking at all the storefronts, spotted a ""pop up " store with its signage proclaiming it to be the Story of Hawaii Museum store.
So of course, in we went.
Totally different experience than one might have anticipated greeted us.
No sooner did we walk in and instead of a dull, solemn atmosphere- we were cheerfully hailed by one of the owners, Bryant J. Neal and he took us in hand and walked us through the wide and storied displays. He recounted not just the usual litany of facts but enlarged upon them and interspersed them with anecdotes of local folklore and personal histories. We journeyed with him thousands of years of Pacific migration with tales of sacrifice and dedication and hardship to the meeting of Captain Cook with the peoples of the Islands to the naming of them as the Sandwich Islands all the way through to Hawaiian royalty and the actual overthrow of the royalty by American businessmen, Pearl Harbour, Pacific strategic war mapping (cartography is his career livelihood) native Japanese internment and eventual statehood.
Truly a fascinating and enjoyable narrative. He has a talent for bringing the past alive and the Museum reflects this passion and in all honesty, should be on a persons' must see list when coming to Maui.
One can purchase momentos from the Museum and they are of a type and quality that can adorn ones' walls and  are indeed fascinating to look at.
A shameless plug here, the Museum's permanent location is in the town of Maalaea and is at 300 Maalaea Harbour shop unit # 2. Their website is www.storyofhawaiimuseum.com.
Tell Bryant that flatlander52 suggested seeing them and he will spend some time with you!

We also motored to the small town of Paia and once again encountered a colourful history that is awaiting for all to find. A former "company town" built around a sugar cane mill, it is over 103 years old and has seen a heyday where the population was over 10,000 (20% of Maui's total population) in the 1930's only to shrink to 1,500 with the migration of camp workers to the town of Kahului and the abandonment of the camp housing in order to plant more sugar cane. Now re-discovered by surfers and tourists this town is interesting and vibrant. Another off the beaten path place one should check out.

Local cooking - always a treat to discover. we were walking along the shoreline this morning and our noses encountered the wondrous smell of chicken roasting so we were obligated to find the source. And what a find it was, with a large canopy set up and underneath a trio of tubs with racks of whole chickens and sides of ribs slowly turning over red hot charcoal coals. So being one never to refuse such an opportunity, a chicken was purchased for consumption later. The 1 hour walk along the beach to our place was difficult to say the least as all I wanted to do was devour the wonderful smelling meal!

 So, that is it for this week from the Sandwich Islands,
flatlander52
A hui hou!!!

Sunday musings

Once again the cocoon of news isolation that is a feature of life on the Sandwich island has enveloped me.
It has and continues to amaze me that in such a great and powerful country such as America, that news from around the world is almost impossible to discern on local media.
Indeed I can get real in depth analysis and real time video coverage of a local basketball game or a street festival here and not a peep about events in the Middle East or any other hotspot.
Introspective, myopic and yet worldly, such is America.
Ariel Sharon, definitely a polarizing figure and leader in Israeli politics is in extremely poor and declining health. A little reported fact is that the former Prime Minister has been in a coma for the last 8 years. One of his biggest accomplishments was, during his tenure in office, to halt Israeli settlement expansion into the Gaza strip. This earned him the wrath of extreme right wing political foes.
After so many decades of war, hate, fear and religious rhetoric, it seems there is no chance for a middle ground in Middle East politics. Just black and white - my way or no way for anyone as the loser will leave nothing but scorched earth behind for the victor.
From the region that gave the world 2 of the greatest spokesman for peace and tolerance - Mohammed and Christ, such a tragedy.
In Africa, in the Central African Republic, nearly 20% of the population has been displaced and left homeless due to the increasing violence engulfing the country.If 20% does not ring a bell with you - how about 1 million? Yes, 1 million people wandering around, lost, terrified and/or living in camps.
The world sits by.
A weary cynic might say that is because it is happening in Africa and not, say, Europe or North America.
Where is the United Nations?
Just Africa....
In a case of deja vu, since the US forces have left Iraq - more and more of the country is falling under the control of the Al Qaeda. So much for the deluded protestations of those opposed to US involvement - remember how they (always) said, keep the Yanks out, nothing will happen?
Tell that to women now deprived of any and all rights.
Tell that to the educated being rounded up and murdered there.
You ever notice how the most opposed to opposition to religious extremism and dictatorships reside in safe, secure democracies in countries in North America and Europe?
You never see them uprooting themselves and moving to such great places like North Korea or Afghanistan?
Nope....
Speaking of the recession of 2008 which lingers to this day, you ever notice how not a single economist lost a job in that time?
Hmmm...
In Germany, on the sage advice of economists, the state railroad, Duetsche Bahn, fired thousands of older employees to save money. Sound familiar? Well, now the company has discovered a looming employee shortage due to retirements in the remaining workforce and now must hire 10,000 new workers a year until 2020!
Idiots.
It is similar to stories reported in Canada for the entire year 2013 about the "housing price" bubble and how grossly overpriced houses were going to hit a "fiscal" wall and prices drop by 60%!!!!
Never happened.
Stories continue.
Those economists are never going to be fired are they?
OK, back to Germany and I am bringing back an old feature, The German word of the week!
And the word is suppenkasper
Similar to the North American variant of "the boogyman", the suppenkasper has a great origion and is well worth looking up.
Here on my Sandwich Island, the other afternoon/evening we went to a little "dorf" (German word again!) to visit a monthly street festival and what a treat it was. Food vendors serving meals from all around the world at very reasonable prices and products to be bought - including the always tacky yet endearing Island souvenirs, of course made in Asia!
My better half has re-surfaced the mantra of 10,000 walking steps a day and my poor feet are evidence of this!
I think I have walked 1/2 the way from the earth to the moon already.

take care out there,
flatlander52
A hui hou

Sunday musings

Well this posting is by necessity a bit disjointed due to the fact that we are in transit from our Island to the Sandwich islands via aeroplane.
So accept my apologies for any "jumping" around or indeed the shortness of the blog this week.
All forms of media are now completely saturated with either fond/bitter/nice/mean/nasty/hopeful remembrances of the year quickly ending and while I am not in the same league as those blatantly overpaid self centered news experts/pundits (heck, my blog is free!) I will put forth some thoughts.
Death is a part of life for humanity and we lost a number of folks this year. I will only mention two. One made an impact on mankind that hopefully with endure and grow through time - Nelson Mandela. Another was a man that was everything to his family and the people he touched in his life. Not a world famous personage, no, not he, but in his own way, just as important as Mr. Mandela, and that was my uncle Karl K.
Both heroes left us better for knowing them.
What next for the world?
America stares at the consequences of the drastic changes to its health care system both in terms of the impact on citizens and the very real, apparently incorrectly figured out fiscal impact. It seems a rule of governing that all programs are over hyped and inversely low balled as to cost. Sadly politicians all over the world assume the voter is stupid and cannot figure out the truth as to cost vs promise. What happens now to the USA economy? Anybody who says they know, well, I think they are just guessing and hoping. Will further budget cuts (and they are coming) hurt the economy? What about the military? For every spokesman that says a cut will destroy the functioning capability to respond to outside threats, a reports emerges about abandoned,never used multi million dollar facilities in countries like Afghanistan alongside newly delivered airplanes and armoured vehicles being mothballed in the American desert lands and never having ever been used. America needs (as does the world it protects) a strong healthy military but it also has to have a cost effective one and that should be a focus for the coming years.
For the rest of the world?
Does any person see changes for the better in the Middle East? North Korea? Europe?
Anywhere?
Sadly, probably not my friends.
One can only hope for so much and instead strive to improve the life they live and the impact that they have on others and the part of the world they live in. That includes the environment. I was taught that each persons responsibility to the land was to leave a place they stayed at or used - better than they found it. And I have always tried to do so. Maybe a promise each can make to the world is to try and do the same. That being said, blind hatred of change and a myopic fairy tale view of a world that can not exist harms all good causes. Too many folks for example decry oil usage but cannot or are incapable of understanding the role oil based products play in their lives. They boycott big oil - while talking on their plastic based cellphones. They cry about forced labour but refuse to but local produced clothing because they do want to pay that much money. They scream about high taxes but want safe streets and cheap almost free electricity - because they are of the generation that seems to have a birth right to deserve everything for almost nothing. Their elders and great grandparents that struggled to live during the Depression of the 1930's would be dismayed.
You know what though?
Now that I am a self proclaimed grizzled old geezer, I still am an optimist.
I still enjoy a golden sunrise.
I still enjoy the look of joy on kids faces at playtime.
I still believe this world can and will get better.
Let's see if WE can make 2014 be a good year for you and for the world.......

from the magical Sandwich Islands,
A hui hou
flatlander52

Sunday musings

So, just a few more days until Christmas and time for a few thoughts and reflections instead of my usual rants and moans about this and that...

One of the things that is common to all majour celebrations regardless of culture or religion is the time available to reflect and consider friends, family and one's life in general and that is a precious commodity in this high speed 24/7 electronic invasive no mental “downtime” society. People have become too immersed in the “commune” life of interdependent consciousness provided by Facebook, Twitter and the like to be able to sit back think alone and quietly it seems.

So this time of reflection is a good thing.

Time for an update.

I have mentioned in earlier blog columns about the three young ladies that I consider my adoptive “daughters” because of the influence they have had on my life since I first met them.

Last week we were fortunate enough to have a thoroughly enjoyable lunch with our “daughter” the realtor here on the Island and later reflected on our good fortune to have had her enter our lives last year,

She is a really great person.

I had news this late fall where another one of my “daughters” is continuing on her life path and is starting to re-enter the work force, but on her own terms – she is an independent and strong willed young lady.

She is a really great person.

I have heard from my third “daughter”, the author that yet two more books are being published and continue to be in awe of her talent and super personality.
Here is a link to her web site - worth a visit- http://allthingsimpossible.com/

She really is a great person.

All three have so enhanced my life, that words fail to express my gratitude towards them.

I am fortunate to have them as my friends and “daughters”.

We had a small gathering the other day and sometimes you forget how nice it is to get together with people and just enjoy the moment, something sadly lacking in many of the Christmas Season's office and home parties as office politics play a huge corrosive role in those.

And that is too bad.

I was able to stand back and observe just how much pleasure people got by being just themselves, because all of the guests were past the age where they needed to impress anyone with their lives or status or “toys”. No, these folks were comfortable in their “skin” and at peace with themselves at this stage in their lives.
My thoughts go out to a friend and his mother in Germany whom I have not seen in many a year but still are close friends and at this, their first Christmas without the family patriarch. A sad and lonesome time and hopefully they will do well.

Here on the Island, where snow hardly if ever falls in my little town, it is somewhat different to drive around at night and see so many houses ablaze with festive lighting and not see any snow on the ground. But, with this being our second Christmas here, it is starting to have its own appeal. And indeed, one experiences a mellowing of spirit unknown when we lived on the Prairie flatlands covered in its many feet of snow and really darn cold temperatures. And yes, here on my Island we are fortunate in that regard.

But I will gladly accept small mercies these days.

So what thoughts/message can we take from this time of the year anyway?

Well, as long as man exists, sadly there will be war, strife and both good and evil. It is part of our makeup unfortunately. But maybe that is part of the meaning of Celebrations like Christmas ( and yes, I know that the occasion is the celebration of the birth of Christ) where if we take the time for reflection and thought, maybe, just maybe, we can become better as an individual and that may slowly change humanity for the better.

And that would be a good thing.

So, a merry Christmas to all – those that believe in the meaning of Christmas and all of the others that accept the message and meaning of the season of “Peace and Goodwill” to all mankind.

My next column will be posted from the Sandwich Islands, so until then,

“A hui huo”

For those interested, the illustration is the work of an emerging Saskatchewan artist, V. Morhart

flatlander52

Sunday musings

Last Sunday was the 72nd anniversary on the bombing of Pearl Harbor by forces of the Empire of Japan. Just reading that sentence gives one pause, it is as if one is seeing literature from another era in front of you. First, Empire of Japan? How quickly time has changed that aspect of Japanese society. And second, it happened 72 years ago?
How is that possible?
This points out to me the biggest change in modern society, indeed a change that is more sweeping than perhaps any other in history. And yes, I do apologize if after reading this you conclude that the observation is over the top, but, it seems correct.
The change I refer to is the way history is recorded starting at the time of the First World War. In majour wars and events in world history, the pattern was for the event to occur and then oral history would emerge supported by archival documents such as treaties, letters and occasional learned texts on the topic for historians to peruse. And for some, the only glimpses of it would be artifacts in various museums.
Film making, black and white and colour photography has changed that forever.
Now no event is ever lost in the mists of time or fading memories of our elders as they pass on.
You can get video CD collections of the Second World War on-line, and on Remembrance Day, the TV is filled with grainy images of trench and aerial warfare from the First World War. Normandy beaches are stormed forever and that mustachioed evil monster from Nazi Germany struts the stage over and over again.
How many times will America have to see their President Kennedy assassinated?
A popular saying that "history forgotten will be repeated" rings a little hollow when one reflects on how many evil and bloody wars have raged since 1945 (yes - 68 years ago - almost 3/4's of a century!).
Did mankind learn anything?
No, not really it seems.
Uganda, the Ukraine, Bosnia, Korea, Ethiopia, Argentina, Syria, the list is almost endless and nothing is changed. And just a year ago that horrible massacre of children at Sandy Hook elementary school, America.
Yet we will have this digital memory to watch for as long as technology exists.
Even in movies this trend exists.
Now in the Christmas Season the old ones with Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby and the like are re-run endlessly and these people have long passed on, in some cases decades ago but there they are - still on the video screen.
Does it make sense to you?
Anyway, in America some sort of budget compromise has been reached where possibly the country can function for a while in a non crisis mode. This fragile, soon to be voted on deal secures money flow for 2 years - which would be a strong step forward in many peoples' thinking. It should give some stability to world financial markets and possibly encourage American employers to re-invest in staff and equipment which would be a win-win situation all around. More employment, more factory orders, more taxpayers and less people needing public fiscal assistance and more revenue flowing into collapsed city coffers to pay for essential civic services.
Only good can come from that.
The spin off effect for that is if the American economy starts revving up - all the world will feel an economic impact and improvement. America is still the economic engine of the world and as soon as it starts humming again, the better things world wide will be. And indeed that is great potential news for all the unemployed in Europe no matter how much their myopic politicians say about how America does not matter.
It seems that the Chinese have successfully landed a lunar probe on the moon. In some American news outlets "talking heads" mutter about "dark" intention and yet one has asked the question that if the so called security of the moon (strange concept given the distance and more importantly the cost to get or do anything there) is so vital to American interest, how come successive Administrations have in essence starved the space agency NASA to fiscal death?
Here in Canada we have the same silliness where our armed forces have been trying to replace a helicopter fleet, apparently designed and built by Leonardo Da Vinci for decades only to be flummoxed by politicos of successive different administrations
No, the blame finger never points to those in charge, nope, the fault is in laid at the feet of a previous administration. Really, do politicians actually believe the nonsense they dish out to the citizenry?
In that great democratic country, the DPRK or North Korea, reports say that the uncle of the Leader, Mr. Kim Jung-uns has been dragged from office and executed.
Cool - true democracy at its finest, at least as done by the North Koreans.
Who needs criminal charges, fair trials and nonsense like that when a swift firing squad saves money and time.
Sarcasm?
Yup.
Snow fell this week in the Middle East. Somehow while many might see that as "so nice for the Christmas season" many folks in central and eastern America that are up to and beyond their limits in snow will not concur. It has been a tough year for snow for a lot of folks around the world. Of course the climate change folks will now say that since the change is not a dessert world in the making, it is instead a wet, rainy, and snow filled world in the making.
Huh.
Will they ever make up their minds do you think?
A sure sign (as if we needed it) that political correctness is so, so overdone and tiresome comes from a report in the BMJ journal, while purportedly "tongue in cheek" reports that James Bond, the super spy was an alcoholic.
Sigh, an imaginary book character being analyzed this way?
Really?
Wonder how much that report cost the taxpayer.
It ranks as silly as the broadcast reports that detail where Santa Clause "personages" residing in shopping malls have been directed by the management folks to refrain from saying Merry Christmas as it would, maybe, might, ahhhh - offend, hurt, alienate those that do not partake in the Christmas tradition. I wonder if these functionaries issue such stern edicts when events like say, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanza and the like come up? Heck there is even the story out of the small town of Saskatoon, Canada where a loud and proud atheist had taken local council to the Human Rights Court (oops, Tribunal) because local buses had Christmas greetings on their scrolling messages boards and it hurt his precious feelings. He never filed any complaints when other greetings (see Kwanza, Ramadan, Hanukkah) were posted.
Poor baby.
Folks, there is a lot more grief and sadness in this world to correct than worrying about the politically correct egos of some folks. People like some here on the coast of British Columbia who are determined to flee the evils of society by living on islands that dot the coast BUT demand things like electricity - free of course, roads - free of course, and multiple ferry service sailings to and from their island so that they can visit, buy things, have a job, that kind of thing, While it may be a stretch to say free, they sure as heck want everyone else to subsidize their way of living instead of paying the piper themselves.
I would rather focus efforts on all the victims of HIV/Aids in Africa for one.
Well, just under 2 weeks until Christmas and so next week I will talk a little about some things near and dear as well as thoughts on the season itself.
So until then,
take care out there,
flatlander52