• Canoe coverage • Who’s in charge? Canoe coverage Our koa canoe and special kudos to Dennis Fujimoto. Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge Dennis for the incredible, quality news coverage he presents for all of us readers in
• Canoe coverage
• Who’s in charge?
Canoe coverage
Our koa canoe and special kudos to Dennis Fujimoto.
Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge Dennis for the incredible, quality news coverage he presents for all of us readers in almost every edition of The Garden Island. He is everywhere on Kaua‘i, from Koke‘e for the Boy Scout Camp dedication, to Hanalei for the koa canoe blessing. And in between, he is at almost every sporting event and community “presentation” with awesome photos. Further, he writes the stories that go with so many of his photos. Does he ever sleep? Does he ever take a day off? Dennis, you are magic! We are blessed with your dedication. Mahalo nui loa.
And mahalo, Dennis, for the touching “story” in the TGI Sunday edition. There is so much to tell, as you know, about this very special koa canoe. I might add a few comments here to further the story a bit.
Our koa canoe never had a name. As keiki, we never thought about naming a canoe. I don’t think our parents did either, in those days. Nowadays, we all paddle Hawaiian koa and fiberglass outrigger canoes for recreation and racing. All canoes have names. Not ours… until Kumu Puna Dawson came last Wednesday and blessed our canoe. While we were searching for a name, and we came up with many names, our canoe restorer, Tommy Taylor asked, “Why don’t you name her ‘Hanohano'”? Yes, Tommy! Right on. Tommy had heard our many tales of Hanohano and his connection with our koa canoe.
John “Hanohano” Pa was a huge part of our lives in the 1930’s and early 1940’s. “Hanohano” would come to our Hanalei beach house every summer when we brought the koa canoe for summer vacation, which was usually mid-June-August. He was ohana for us. He taught us how to swim by throwing us off the Hanalei pier, telling us to swim for that chunk of hau that he tossed out. He would rig the iako and ama Hawaiian style, and then he would show us special places where we would paddle the canoe to spearfish for uhu. In the summer of 1968, he was there rigging our canoe once again, with my father, (who passed away in November, 1968) for what turned out to be our last rigging and use of the koa canoe, until 2005. “Hanohano” is certainly the most appropriate name, as his (Hanohano’s) spirit lives on. Mahalo, Hanohano.
One further item of importance. Dennis did a wonderful thing in the article. He named “Matt Muirhead” as my son. Matt is really my nephew. My sister, Sally Muirhead, is Matt’s mother. And NOW Matt is my “hanai” son. He feels so much like my son. Maybe because the koa canoe project has made very strong ohana ties. Matt was instrumental in our canoe restoration, as was Kendall Struxness and Tommy Taylor. Mahalo to all of you.
Lastly, the photo on the front page omitted the names of Kendall Struxness, stroke, sitting seat #1, and Ben Baldwin sitting seat #2. Ben and his family, go back to the late 1930’s and 1940’s when he would join us in paddling “Hanohano.” It was very appropriate that Ben could participate in the blessing and paddling. Ben’s grand-keiki took part in the blessing as they were selected by Kumu Puna as the “youngest” to assist in making the “ka” (blessing lei of responsibility). Kumu Puna selected Ben as he was the “oldest” present.
“Hanohano” now resides in the “breezeway” at our Waimea Plantation Cottages for all to view and read history (coming soon) story boards, “Hanohano” will occasionally participate in special future cultural and educational events.
Who’s in charge?
On Sunday a letter was written to The Forum concerning Social Security. The author claimed to know “why the Democrats are so dead set against private accounts for future Social Security beneficiaries, because private accounts will take away the ‘cash cow’ known as the so-called Social Security Trust Fund. Politicians for years have been using this account to fund all of their special-interest agendas”.
Interesting. The Senate and House of Representatives have been controlled by Majority Republicans since 1995. So who is really using the Social Security Trust Fund to fund all of their special-interest agendas?
America duped
In response to the guest editorial which appeared Tuesday, July 5.
America was duped into invading a defenseless country which posed no threat to the world, its neighbors, or us. No Iraqi was involved in the 9/11 attacks. The guest writer brings up the Second World War. Well, picture this: the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and our leader deceptively declares war on and attacks Mexico. To compare Nazi Germany at the end of the Second World War to Iraq is preposterous. Germany was surrounded by countries she had invaded and conquered, and they hated her. Few Nazis were racing back to Germany to defend her. In fact every Nazi who could was deserting the sinking ship.
To use Washington and the American Revolution as an example to continue fighting is ridiculous. The mightiest Empire in the world, the British Empire, could no more have won that war than we can win this one. Washington and his men were fighting for their country, just as Iraqis today are fighting for theirs. Today Iraq is a mess. A mess we created. Hundreds of thousands unemployed. Thousands made homeless by the invasion. The infrastructure of the country is, for the most part, totally destroyed. No clean water. No electric power. Open sewage running in the streets. No one is safe. Saddam was a you-know-what, but people had jobs, homes, cars, power, phones, water…There were no insurgents in Iraq before we invaded. Iraq was a secular, socialistic dictatorship. Today Iraq is a military dictatorship on the verge of becoming, in the guise of democracy, a rabid Muslim fundamentalist regime with nothing to look forward to but years of infighting, chaos, death, disaster and revolution.
We may have to invite Saddam back to restore order. Truth: we’ve probably killed or been responsible for the death of more Iraqis than Saddam ever was. And that number will grow. The guest writer also uses an indefinite pronoun ‘them’ when speaking about other terrorist attacks. There is no proof that any Iraqi was involved in these attacks. So who are the ‘them’ the writer speaks about? Muslims? I think so. And they come in all sizes, shapes and nationalities. This is not only a war about oil, power and money, it is—and has been deliberately designated as — a religious war.
The worst of the worst. Our God against their God. Which one will reign supreme? According to the Koran, their God, Allah, commands the devout to kill all invaders and those who support them. And so they will kill each other and, of course, us, too. Iraq will become a killing field and nothing we can do will stop it now. We cannot win this war.
