Father Damien Sainthood

Fr. Damien will be elevated to sainthood this week, an event that has everybody in Hawaii excited. You can read the reactions here. Nobody is celebrating more than the remaining residents of Kalaupapa, the infamous leper colony of Molokai.

The history of leprosy and the policy of quarantine that brought Damien to Hawaii is sad and tragic. A recent book by John Tayman documents that horrible experiment in social engineering.

The Colony begins with a man and his family in a desperate flight for freedom that led to a military standoff in the mountains of Kauai. The man's crime? He had leprosy. Leprosy, now known as Hansen's Disease, reached the islands in the 1860s and the government responded in Biblical fashion: anyone suffering from the disease was pronounced "utterly unclean" and exiled to a peninsula on the island of Molokai.

The peninsula, Kalaupapa, was bounded at one end by sea cliffs so high and steep that goats fell off. It jutted out like an overturned flat iron into seas so rough that ships couldn't land. Instead, the exiles were rowed close to shore and tossed overboard with their belongings and forced to swim to the rocks. When they got there, they were greeted with the chilling words, "In this place there is no law." They had been tracked by bounty hunters, taken from their families, and forced to this place where all manner of crime and brutality awaited them. The colony had little food and little medical care.

Talk about injustice! Most were not contagious and many did not have the disease. A case of psoriasis was enough to send a man, woman or child into banishment. It was the longest and deadliest instance of medical segregation in American history. There are a lot of villains in the story, not the least of which are the doctors, public health officials and government servants who carried out and enforced the practice. Mostly the story is about the eventual triumph of the human spirit over ignorance and prejudice.

The elevation of Fr. Damien to sainthood is a fitting way to close this chapter.

Hard way to die

From Hard Ticket To Hawaii, 1987.



When you've got beautiful beaches and beautiful women you've got to find inventive ways to kill people. But why not just shoot the guy? And why did the guy put down the machine gun? Polynesian paralysis, maybe.

I think the line "Great ass," deserves to be a hardboiled quote. I don't think there are any other memorable lines from this movie.

Hawaiian Eye/Adventures in Paradise

1959 brought Hawaii statehood and two of the best mystery/adventure shows to appear on television.

Hawaiian Eye starred Robert Conrad as detective Tom Lopaka and Anthony Eisley as his partner Tracey Steele. They operated out of an office in the Hawaiian Village Resort where Connie Stevens, as Cricket Blake, ran the gift shop and sang in the lounge. They were frequently assisted by Kazuo Kim, played by Poncie Ponce who ran a one-man cab company but had hundreds of relatives.



Adventures in Paradise starred Gardner McKay as Adam Troy, a Korean War vet and captain of the schooner Tiki, which he sails around the islands of the South Pacific in search of cargo or passengers (preferably female). The story was based on the book by James Michener who sold the idea to 20th Century Fox. Michener worked on some of the scripts in the first season.

50-50

Fifty years ago today, August 21, 1959, Hawaii was admitted to the union as the 50th state. Congratulations and Aloha.

Luau On the South Lawn

News from the 50th state:

President Obama to Host White House Luau

The tastes and talents of Hawaii will take center stage in the national spotlight on Thursday as President Barack Obama, the first president from the Aloha State, hosts the first-ever White House luau.

Hard to believe it's the first one. The best part of a luau is sitting up all night by the imu, or cooking pit, and heaping hot rocks on the meat while getting lubricated on Primo beer. Wonder which White House staffers get that job.

Lucky you live Hawaii

News from the 50th State

Defense secretary orders missile interceptors to Hawaii because of North Korean threat

WASHINGTON >> The United States has positioned more missile defenses around Hawaii as a precaution against a possible North Korean launch across the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today.

A Japanese newspaper reported today that North Korea might fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward Hawaii around the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the U.S.

Rep. Ward forms shark task force
June 18th, 2009 — Environment, Politics

Rep. Gene Ward today announced formation of a shark task force. “The purpose of the task force is to engage the community in the two important issues of enforcement and legislation,” Ward said. “State law forbids the practice of chumming or the feeding of sharks from the shoreline to three miles offshore, and federal law prohibits the practice beyond 3 miles up to 200 miles, but there is really no enforcement of these laws.”

Podcast report for June 17, 2009

Way back when I began this blog, I said I would do a podcast report. Somehow, I got away from that. I think it's time to return to those reports. I intend to do a podcast report every Wednesday. Most of what I'll report on are the podcasts dealing with writing and Hawaiiana.

To start things off I'll mention one of my guilty pleasures, surfing podcasts. There is nothing like a good surf podcast as a pick-me-up on a tough day. One of my favorites is Surf Shooter Hawaii run by Terry Reis. His podcasts are short pieces backed by high-octane music, featuring ordinary people surfing the great waves and beaches of Hawaii. Terry also has a website and blog where you can see high quality stills and video. The videos are free to download, the photos are for sale.

Download the podcasts from iTunes or go to the Surf Shooter website (http://www.surfshooterhawaii.com/)

If you go to the website, don't miss the HD videos. The latest was shot at Ala Moana bowls and starts off with some fantastic shots of Waikiki and Diamond Head before getting into the high surf on the southern shore of Oahu. Man, I wish I was there.

To see some of the videos, just click on one of the Hawaii HD feeds above.

Hawaii leads the way

The state legislature recently passed a resolution marking Sept. 24 as Islam Day as part of the Isle's celebration of diversity. Hawaii already has Buddhism, Baha'i and Christian days so recognizing Islam seems like a logical step. Some people, however, still confuse Islam with terrorism and have threatened boycotts. Most of the critics are from the mainland. It's too bad Hawaii can't spread the Aloha spirit to the rest of the United States. The full story is here in the Honolulu Star Bulletin.