http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-sachs/life-liberty-and-the-purs_b_265855.html
Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of The Perfect Wave: The Hawaiian Independence Movement Gains Momentum
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood, I went down to the beach at Waikiki and witnessed a lovely evening fireworks display. Only thing is, the fireworks didn't have anything to do with the anniversary -- it's something my hotel does every Friday night for the tourists. At least in Oahu, there wasn't much of anything else going on to commemorate the historic anniversary, either. A '50s nostalgia concert starring the Platters, the Coasters and the Drifters, or imitations thereof. A conference at the Hawaii Convention Center. A march and rally for Hawaiian independence.
Wait a minute, I said to myself as I read that last one in the Honolulu Advertiser. I thought Texas was the only state that wanted to secede from the Union. Why would Hawaii want out?
Turns out there was a lot I didn't know about this place when I came here with my wife for a vacation last week. Heck, we didn't even know that today was the day Hawaii became the 50th state. When we looked for ways to commemorate the event and came up dry, we figured, well, the local economy is in the crapper (which is why we got such a great deal on our hotel), so maybe the locals aren't in a celebrating mood.
But the pieces started to fall into place when we went to 'Iolani Palace, built by King Kalakaua in 1882 when Hawaii -- the only state to have ever been a legitimate, globally recognized kingdom -- was still a sovereign nation. A decade later, his successor, Queen Lili'uokalani, was forced by an American-led faction to relinquish the monarchy and was placed under house arrest there. Restored to something approaching its 19th century glory in the late '70s, the palace is now a major tourist attraction -- and a gathering place for Hawaii's many independence groups. We weren't shocked by the unabashedly pro-royal tone of the palace's audio tour. After all, the royals are the place's big selling point. But the final audio segment, in which "Prince" David Kawananakoa (a descendant of the Hawaiian royal family) advocates Hawaiian sovereignty, made us prick up our ears.
It turns out that the independence movement isn't just a nutty gambit to avoid paying federal taxes, the way it is in Texas. The Hawaiians, especially those who can trace their ancestry back to the time when Captain James Cook "discovered" the islands, have some pretty legit grievances. Apparently, the United States violated international law and treaties it had signed with Hawaii when it overthrew the monarchy and annexed and occupied the country back in the 1890s. In fact, at least one legal scholar says that when President Clinton issued a formal "Oops, our bad" apology to the Hawaiian people in 1993 for America's actions of 100 years earlier, it negated any claim the U.S. of A had to the islands.
This legal hullaballoo should delight all the birthers, who now have another weapon in their arsenal. If they can't prove that President Obama wasn't born in Hawaii, then they can try to prove that Hawaii isn't actually part of the Union. And while the odds of Hawaii becoming an independent monarchy in the near future don't seem that great, the movement has a lot of people on its side. The total number of members of various Hawaiian independence groups is estimated at about 30,000, while 13% of residents polled by the Honolulu Advertiser say that becoming a state was a negative for Hawaii. That translates to about 165,000 pissed-off Hawaiians.
The natives I've spoken with don't realistically expect revolution, secession, or any other major upheaval anytime soon. Nor do they really want it. But, said one woman, "given how much the native language and culture suffered for so long after the Americans occupied us, I think we understand where the movement is coming from."
While still representing only a small percentage of the population, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement has gained enough power and respect within the state -- er, kingdom? -- to effectively mute any celebrations of a half-century of statehood. In fact, the only event scheduled at 'Iolani Palace today was a traditional tribute to Queen Lili'uokalani, Hawaii's last reigning monarch.
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Ae, Ching,
Sad but true, we were a global recognized sovereign nation, our hawaiian flag with our small gold flag with the kui kui nut
was a reminder of our sovereign nation under God. My great great great grandpapa Kamehameha desired "the rights of
kings" as did all other ruling monarchs in the world. He desired his mo'opuna to have the highest status rank and why he
like many aliis married up in rank with the women. The women grandpapa sought were akua women like keopuolani so his kids would have rights to the throne and no one can take it from them, no matter what alii may come, it was Kamehameha the Great who united the islands. Lunalilo and Kalakaua were elected. So, anyone desiring the throne would have to have koko or be elected. We suffered and are still suffering and reminded of the suffering when today's Hawaii wants to comemorate Hawaii as if it was taken legally. That is the sad part. The kupunas long waited for one with the koko of the king, the "flower of the king" to emerge right into today. I quickly took my kupuna's hand when he bowed and announced, "NA ALII KAMEHAMEHA" before me. I know my blood line on my mama's mama's side traces to the king himself and at this time, I asked for help to restore my alii name to a judge, a mason, as it were masons who stripped me of my name and birthright when I was born under the territory of hawaii government. Poetic justice, I believe
ke akua is the one who put me in touch with all those whom I met in my dream some 15 to 20 years ago. Now I wait, go to school and take active part in community meets and or projects that come to my attention. Given a potato rag to put on thru these years, I watch and learn and every once in a while, my pueo flies and watches me from near by. I am more a thinker, not ethnocentric, but a student to all around me. ONI'PAA LEADERSHIP WILL COME WHEN IT IS TIME. ALOHA..NANI
Great mana'o, Kaohi! Sad that so many assimilated to the U.S. WASP mentality and turn a blind eye to the genocide, cultracide, and embrace the homicide of our people in all forms. By allowing ourselves to be demoralized and fearful allows them to do what they will without any accountability. Knowing this, we should peel away the blinders and scales that cloud our vision. If it's our money; whay are we buying into it? Ku'e!
Yes Tani when I read this article I wanted to tone my response to ‘here is another media scandal’ by another tourist. The questions did arise during th protesting of the ‘fake state’ secession and territory births, which as you say “does not result in citizenship.” On the political side, we were never annexed, therefore we’re not secessionist. In actuality, we are Hawaiian Nationals and US is illegally occupying territory in Hawaii. My focus however, will be the ‘happy’ and ‘abused’ part. Tani said, “Many injustices continue to wipe out the Hawaiian culture and heritage only to leave the remnants of selected history and amusing culture.”
At UH Manoa, the birth of ‘niaupio’ is just a ‘joke’ nothing more. All my life and for close to 60 years that is, I knew two things—“no relations” and “expressions of rage.” In order to be a ‘niaupio’ in our family you had to have the blood, if you were part of the family, but not by birth it was considered calabash or ‘no relations’. The famine left many children orphaned and they needed to be taken in by a Hawaiian family or village to be raised as their own. This practice need to be understood by two things, survival and citizenship. One more note, calabash children were treated with lots of love and sometimes given more status or attention then their own chidlren of natural births. More recently, and I strongly believe that three-thousand children more or less were sent to the mainland by the governess was a U.S. act of genocide and treason. And these children are nationals by genealogical birth (fuzzy need to be rewritten). I as a National claim ownership of these births for they are now destitute and indigent on US soil.
As for the ‘pain and suffering’ because Prince Kuhio and his supporters decided that the Women’s Suffrage World campaign was not part of his agenda, Hawaiian women also too was not part of his schema. Hawaiia Women was not looked upon as equal participants of the Hawaiian Homestead Act although they surely qualified. In 1984, I became a homestead lessee and all hell broke loose, but before that--I would have been a lessee in 1978. I was pregnant at that time and according to Director Beamer, she said to my face that “I wasn’t ready for my homestead home.” I may seem ‘Machiavellian’ towards our Hawaiian leaders, it’s only because they too have the same attitude towards Hawaiian women as did the racist sugar kings.
I can’t conceive the notion of being forced to prostrate before the U.S. by Akaka and non Hawaiians for their economic intentions. Left unprotected, I see the impossibility to survival in epic proportions for the present day homesteaders and their extended families. My estimation and for the next 10 years we should see 12,000 live births in need of ‘special attention’ because of their loss of language and denied access to practice their culture. A fisherman, a taro farmer, musician are all considered nonproductive or of poor character in the industrial world. But, without the fisherman, musician, farmer we basically-- have no culture. Mahalo
I've included a sample of the kind of response the Huffington post blog is collecting. What follows is my response to "Robin Seattle." His/her original comments are below mine and indicated clearly. Thank you!
------------
Hi Robin,
I'd like to correct a few misconceptions in your post.
1) I have been corresponding with a number of people involved in the independence movement, for several years, and I have never once heard anyone advocate "ethnic cleansing" as a part of the restoration of the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
There are reasons for this, including the fact that a lot of people who are part Kanaka Maoli ("Native Hawaiian") have a multi-ethnic background. Or they are the friends, lovers or relatives of people with different ethnic backgrounds. These folks hold family and human relationships in far greater esteem than we do here on the continent. And they are usually quite fair in the way in which they conduct their civil affairs. And they generally have much better manners when dealing with their adversaries -- speaking truth, but not usually demonizing the person with opposing views.
2) I'd also like to point out that the Americans have done quite a lot of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide in Hawai'i, through racist social policies, incarceration, etc. Not to mention the intentional infliction of sexually transmitted diseases which started when Captain Cook knowingly allowed his pox-ridden sailors to sleep with the Maoli women. The resulting drop in the indigenous population was sudden, brutal, and still continues to this day.
3) The Kingdom of Hawai'i was a multi-ethnic nation. Many descendents of Hawaiian nationals are not Kanaka Maoli, yet they too still lost their country. There are some who are also advocating for the Kingdom's restoration, along with their fellow citizens who are Kanaka Maoli. This is yet another reason why "ethnic cleansing" would not be part of the discussion or strategy for independence.
4) With regard to military: "Strategic" American military bases do exist in other nations which are not formally occupied by the U.S. It may be that an independent Kingdom of Hawai'i might be willing (I only say "might") to negotiate something, but I wouldn't bet on it. At least, not until the U.S. military cleaned up the depleted uranium, unexploded ordnance, and other debris and pollution it has inflicted throughout the islands.
5) With regard to your perceived lack of "a large enough educated and entrepeneurial class" of people to govern an independent Hawai'i -- wow, that's certainly a stereotyped view!
Thanks in part to the Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiian charter school movement, and general natural brilliance of Kanaka Maoli thinkers and cultural practitioners, there are scores of well educated Native Hawaiians who form an intelligent, forward thinking, strategic and cultural group who are well able to lead. More than that, many of these folks are spending a great deal of time nurturing the youth, to bring out the next generation of leadership.
Maybe this group isn't quite "large enough" but there are plenty of people who could and would form an effective nucleus of independent governance - in spite of us, and even in spite of the wrongly conceived "Akaka bill."
I invite you to do more reading and learning. Perhaps you might revise your views before you post again on this topic. End of my words
HERE IS WHAT "ROBIN SEATTLE" WROTE IN RESPONSE TO THE BLOG IN THE HUFFINGTON POST.
I REPEAT - THESE WORDS THAT FOLLOW ARE NOT MINE.
ROBIN SEATTLE WRITES:
Hawaiian independence would open a whole can of worms and so I see this whole independence campaign as tilting at windmills.
First, if Hawaiians feel occupied by the haole and the Japanese are they going to ethnically cleanse the islands in the wake of independence? Boy, that would be ugly.
Secondly, American and Japanese corporate interests are not going to let it happen. We would just have a repeat of the Philippine civil war or the coup in Guatemala (brought to you by United Fruit!). Moreover, even if Hawaii were allowed to get away clean, you would have the usual political demagoguing over "who lost Hawaii?"
We have strategic military bases in Hawaii. That alone will ensure that Hawaii stays a state.
The native Hawaiians are currently bedeviled with educational, criminal and poverty issues. If all the non-Hawaiians are forced to "go home" (whatever that means) then you don't really have a large enough educated or entrepeneurial class in place to run the islands' economic and societal infrastructure.
Finally, there is a huge difference between campaigning and governing. Will the independence leaders actually prove to be competent leaders when they are in power? And how long will it take to hammer out a political concensus on all the ensuing political questions? Again, this would not be pretty.
END OF ROBIN SEATTLE'S BLOG COMMENT.
"Nice" article except it isn't secession when Hawai'i was never lawfully annexed. There are two exceptions where birth within the territory does not result in citizenship. First, where a child is born within the territory, but the child’s parents are foreign ambassadors or diplomats, that child is not a citizen of the territory of birth; and second, where a child is born of alien enemies in an area of the territory under hostile occupation, that child will not be a citizen; as is the case of the U.S. Americans who settled here under such conditions as declared by President Cleveland as it was an act of war.
Those who are resilient enough and affluent enough to fit into the U.S. system can be quite content; but those that can't are suppressed and unhappy. Many injustices continue to wipe out the Hawaiian culture and heritage only to leave the remnants of selected history and amusing culture. It was the native Hawaiians that were displaced to make way for the U.S. Americans settling in our territory and the developers that coveted the lands we lived on because it was considered by them prime property of which to make lots of money. Because the land was ours; no other ethnic group that settled here had to go through that kind of mass evictions and displacements; there were not even placement plans or resettled plans for those displaced. Most settlers in Hawai'i are totally clueless of this atrocity and accuse us of having special privileges. How absurd! If the shoe was on the otherr foot; guaranteed they would make the loudest noise. Somehow there are those that can't grasp the truth and can't understand that this is a traditional homeland of a people and not terra nullius of their manifest destiny doctrines of elite christian white superiority. It is beacuse we were not white they used those doctrines against us even if we were peers to them. They were in dire need of Hawai'i to gain naval dominance in the Pacific which they were latently entering the region without a foothold as other European nations had. The U.S. was the fledling nation, an upstart and Johny-come-lately in the world of nations. Hawai'i became part of those nations as a Christian country, but a non-white society. This is all it took for the U.S. to covet and take what it couldn't but did anyway because it refused to see us as an equal. By the time the U.S. came to us; we didn't fit the description of the Papal Bulls or the manifest Destiny doctrines. It was a purely racial thing with the U.S. which still suffers with that malady and wants us to submit to it with the Akaka Bill. The U.S. takes pride in its racism but are offended when you call them on it. We've protested but have been muted by the U.S. for over 116, but the word is out thanks to the internet.
Aloha e Tane,
As always, I read your posts with great admiration and learn so much!
Unfortunately, there are some ignorant comments collecting now around the blog on the Huffington Post and does that site ever need the thoughts and truth from you, Ku, Kaohi, Pomai, and others who can set the record straight. It drives me nuts that the so-called progressives in the U.S. continue to ignore (for the most part) the plight of "America's Tibet" while wringing their hands over other struggles in other lands.
Malama pono,
Amy
Welina mai e Ku,
Great! I've been waiting for the Huffington Post to have something on this. Well, not exactly waiting -- I did try to "seed" some info there a few months back - but it's great that someone else added a blog to the Huffington site, especially on the timely topic of fakehood.
Hoping for more! Mahalo for finding and posting this!
Aloha e Kaohi,
I'll email you about the other stuff, but right now I want to say that the Huffington Post, created by Arianna Huffington and featuring an assortment of seemingly or allegedly progressive writers, is a well known, well followed site. But it is now collecting "comments" on the blog that Ku copied here -- and as you might imagine the comments range from sheer stupidity to mildly informed or receptive (last I read - there may be better stuff now).
It would be really, really great if the mana'o we all share in Maoliworld on these topics could also make their way into the widely read blogs of the Huffington Post. All you have to do is log in to the Huffington Post site, and begin to comment.
Malama pono!
Replies
Sad but true, we were a global recognized sovereign nation, our hawaiian flag with our small gold flag with the kui kui nut
was a reminder of our sovereign nation under God. My great great great grandpapa Kamehameha desired "the rights of
kings" as did all other ruling monarchs in the world. He desired his mo'opuna to have the highest status rank and why he
like many aliis married up in rank with the women. The women grandpapa sought were akua women like keopuolani so his kids would have rights to the throne and no one can take it from them, no matter what alii may come, it was Kamehameha the Great who united the islands. Lunalilo and Kalakaua were elected. So, anyone desiring the throne would have to have koko or be elected. We suffered and are still suffering and reminded of the suffering when today's Hawaii wants to comemorate Hawaii as if it was taken legally. That is the sad part. The kupunas long waited for one with the koko of the king, the "flower of the king" to emerge right into today. I quickly took my kupuna's hand when he bowed and announced, "NA ALII KAMEHAMEHA" before me. I know my blood line on my mama's mama's side traces to the king himself and at this time, I asked for help to restore my alii name to a judge, a mason, as it were masons who stripped me of my name and birthright when I was born under the territory of hawaii government. Poetic justice, I believe
ke akua is the one who put me in touch with all those whom I met in my dream some 15 to 20 years ago. Now I wait, go to school and take active part in community meets and or projects that come to my attention. Given a potato rag to put on thru these years, I watch and learn and every once in a while, my pueo flies and watches me from near by. I am more a thinker, not ethnocentric, but a student to all around me. ONI'PAA LEADERSHIP WILL COME WHEN IT IS TIME. ALOHA..NANI
Tane
At UH Manoa, the birth of ‘niaupio’ is just a ‘joke’ nothing more. All my life and for close to 60 years that is, I knew two things—“no relations” and “expressions of rage.” In order to be a ‘niaupio’ in our family you had to have the blood, if you were part of the family, but not by birth it was considered calabash or ‘no relations’. The famine left many children orphaned and they needed to be taken in by a Hawaiian family or village to be raised as their own. This practice need to be understood by two things, survival and citizenship. One more note, calabash children were treated with lots of love and sometimes given more status or attention then their own chidlren of natural births. More recently, and I strongly believe that three-thousand children more or less were sent to the mainland by the governess was a U.S. act of genocide and treason. And these children are nationals by genealogical birth (fuzzy need to be rewritten). I as a National claim ownership of these births for they are now destitute and indigent on US soil.
As for the ‘pain and suffering’ because Prince Kuhio and his supporters decided that the Women’s Suffrage World campaign was not part of his agenda, Hawaiian women also too was not part of his schema. Hawaiia Women was not looked upon as equal participants of the Hawaiian Homestead Act although they surely qualified. In 1984, I became a homestead lessee and all hell broke loose, but before that--I would have been a lessee in 1978. I was pregnant at that time and according to Director Beamer, she said to my face that “I wasn’t ready for my homestead home.” I may seem ‘Machiavellian’ towards our Hawaiian leaders, it’s only because they too have the same attitude towards Hawaiian women as did the racist sugar kings.
I can’t conceive the notion of being forced to prostrate before the U.S. by Akaka and non Hawaiians for their economic intentions. Left unprotected, I see the impossibility to survival in epic proportions for the present day homesteaders and their extended families. My estimation and for the next 10 years we should see 12,000 live births in need of ‘special attention’ because of their loss of language and denied access to practice their culture. A fisherman, a taro farmer, musician are all considered nonproductive or of poor character in the industrial world. But, without the fisherman, musician, farmer we basically-- have no culture. Mahalo
------------
Hi Robin,
I'd like to correct a few misconceptions in your post.
1) I have been corresponding with a number of people involved in the independence movement, for several years, and I have never once heard anyone advocate "ethnic cleansing" as a part of the restoration of the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
There are reasons for this, including the fact that a lot of people who are part Kanaka Maoli ("Native Hawaiian") have a multi-ethnic background. Or they are the friends, lovers or relatives of people with different ethnic backgrounds. These folks hold family and human relationships in far greater esteem than we do here on the continent. And they are usually quite fair in the way in which they conduct their civil affairs. And they generally have much better manners when dealing with their adversaries -- speaking truth, but not usually demonizing the person with opposing views.
2) I'd also like to point out that the Americans have done quite a lot of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide in Hawai'i, through racist social policies, incarceration, etc. Not to mention the intentional infliction of sexually transmitted diseases which started when Captain Cook knowingly allowed his pox-ridden sailors to sleep with the Maoli women. The resulting drop in the indigenous population was sudden, brutal, and still continues to this day.
3) The Kingdom of Hawai'i was a multi-ethnic nation. Many descendents of Hawaiian nationals are not Kanaka Maoli, yet they too still lost their country. There are some who are also advocating for the Kingdom's restoration, along with their fellow citizens who are Kanaka Maoli. This is yet another reason why "ethnic cleansing" would not be part of the discussion or strategy for independence.
4) With regard to military: "Strategic" American military bases do exist in other nations which are not formally occupied by the U.S. It may be that an independent Kingdom of Hawai'i might be willing (I only say "might") to negotiate something, but I wouldn't bet on it. At least, not until the U.S. military cleaned up the depleted uranium, unexploded ordnance, and other debris and pollution it has inflicted throughout the islands.
5) With regard to your perceived lack of "a large enough educated and entrepeneurial class" of people to govern an independent Hawai'i -- wow, that's certainly a stereotyped view!
Thanks in part to the Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiian charter school movement, and general natural brilliance of Kanaka Maoli thinkers and cultural practitioners, there are scores of well educated Native Hawaiians who form an intelligent, forward thinking, strategic and cultural group who are well able to lead. More than that, many of these folks are spending a great deal of time nurturing the youth, to bring out the next generation of leadership.
Maybe this group isn't quite "large enough" but there are plenty of people who could and would form an effective nucleus of independent governance - in spite of us, and even in spite of the wrongly conceived "Akaka bill."
I invite you to do more reading and learning. Perhaps you might revise your views before you post again on this topic.
End of my words
HERE IS WHAT "ROBIN SEATTLE" WROTE IN RESPONSE TO THE BLOG IN THE HUFFINGTON POST.
I REPEAT - THESE WORDS THAT FOLLOW ARE NOT MINE.
ROBIN SEATTLE WRITES:
Hawaiian independence would open a whole can of worms and so I see this whole independence campaign as tilting at windmills.
First, if Hawaiians feel occupied by the haole and the Japanese are they going to ethnically cleanse the islands in the wake of independence? Boy, that would be ugly.
Secondly, American and Japanese corporate interests are not going to let it happen. We would just have a repeat of the Philippine civil war or the coup in Guatemala (brought to you by United Fruit!). Moreover, even if Hawaii were allowed to get away clean, you would have the usual political demagoguing over "who lost Hawaii?"
We have strategic military bases in Hawaii. That alone will ensure that Hawaii stays a state.
The native Hawaiians are currently bedeviled with educational, criminal and poverty issues. If all the non-Hawaiians are forced to "go home" (whatever that means) then you don't really have a large enough educated or entrepeneurial class in place to run the islands' economic and societal infrastructure.
Finally, there is a huge difference between campaigning and governing. Will the independence leaders actually prove to be competent leaders when they are in power? And how long will it take to hammer out a political concensus on all the ensuing political questions? Again, this would not be pretty.
END OF ROBIN SEATTLE'S BLOG COMMENT.
Those who are resilient enough and affluent enough to fit into the U.S. system can be quite content; but those that can't are suppressed and unhappy. Many injustices continue to wipe out the Hawaiian culture and heritage only to leave the remnants of selected history and amusing culture. It was the native Hawaiians that were displaced to make way for the U.S. Americans settling in our territory and the developers that coveted the lands we lived on because it was considered by them prime property of which to make lots of money. Because the land was ours; no other ethnic group that settled here had to go through that kind of mass evictions and displacements; there were not even placement plans or resettled plans for those displaced. Most settlers in Hawai'i are totally clueless of this atrocity and accuse us of having special privileges. How absurd! If the shoe was on the otherr foot; guaranteed they would make the loudest noise. Somehow there are those that can't grasp the truth and can't understand that this is a traditional homeland of a people and not terra nullius of their manifest destiny doctrines of elite christian white superiority. It is beacuse we were not white they used those doctrines against us even if we were peers to them. They were in dire need of Hawai'i to gain naval dominance in the Pacific which they were latently entering the region without a foothold as other European nations had. The U.S. was the fledling nation, an upstart and Johny-come-lately in the world of nations. Hawai'i became part of those nations as a Christian country, but a non-white society. This is all it took for the U.S. to covet and take what it couldn't but did anyway because it refused to see us as an equal. By the time the U.S. came to us; we didn't fit the description of the Papal Bulls or the manifest Destiny doctrines. It was a purely racial thing with the U.S. which still suffers with that malady and wants us to submit to it with the Akaka Bill. The U.S. takes pride in its racism but are offended when you call them on it. We've protested but have been muted by the U.S. for over 116, but the word is out thanks to the internet.
As always, I read your posts with great admiration and learn so much!
Unfortunately, there are some ignorant comments collecting now around the blog on the Huffington Post and does that site ever need the thoughts and truth from you, Ku, Kaohi, Pomai, and others who can set the record straight. It drives me nuts that the so-called progressives in the U.S. continue to ignore (for the most part) the plight of "America's Tibet" while wringing their hands over other struggles in other lands.
Malama pono,
Amy
Great! I've been waiting for the Huffington Post to have something on this. Well, not exactly waiting -- I did try to "seed" some info there a few months back - but it's great that someone else added a blog to the Huffington site, especially on the timely topic of fakehood.
Hoping for more! Mahalo for finding and posting this!
I'll email you about the other stuff, but right now I want to say that the Huffington Post, created by Arianna Huffington and featuring an assortment of seemingly or allegedly progressive writers, is a well known, well followed site. But it is now collecting "comments" on the blog that Ku copied here -- and as you might imagine the comments range from sheer stupidity to mildly informed or receptive (last I read - there may be better stuff now).
It would be really, really great if the mana'o we all share in Maoliworld on these topics could also make their way into the widely read blogs of the Huffington Post. All you have to do is log in to the Huffington Post site, and begin to comment.
Malama pono!