I recently received an email that was a response from Chief Arvol Looking Horse regarding the Sedona deaths. His response gave me something to ponder about cultural exploitation. He states, "I would like to clarify that this lodge and many others are not our ceremonial way of life because of the way they are being conducted...our ceremonies are about life and healing...never has death been a part of our inikaga(life within). This particular practice is for purification. He states that in… Continue

Honestly, I wasn't interested about this issue and this is most likely due to the fact that I already have coverage from my workplace -- no cost to me (premium-wise). My son is covered under his father's plan, so all is good or so I thought. "Health care bill clears a hurdle" was the headline in today's Maui News, and I assumed that it meant that the bill was already law. Reading the article, I now understand that health care gets to be debated among congress. I thought that was already… Continue

Read this little snippet in the Maui News and couldn't help but react negatively to the part where it states, "Obama told representatives of APEC's 21-member nations that he looks forward to seeing them in flowered shirts and grass skirts."



Here we are, attempting to change the worldview of what Hawaiian culture is and he makes a comment like that! It upsets me that with his high profile, he's not giving thought to how HE portrays the Hawaiian culture and the traditions and values,… Continue

Again, major issue in the news (Maui News, at least) is furlough Fridays for the state Dept of Education. According to writer Loren Moreno, the result of furlough Fridays equal to a 7.2 percent decrease in pay, less instructional days and positions our state as the only state with the shortest school year. I never took a position on this issue, but today I say, quit the crying, learn to improvise, be flexible and treat this as a temporary solution to a nationwide crisis!



At my work… Continue