Monday, February 12, 2018

comments on #metoo (Al Franken and Dan Inouye edition)

(note: I was going to write one blog post in response to the #metoo late last year, but had some serious time constraints. Being there's so many thoughts, but so little time,  I'll just start a series on #metoo, starting with this one. Not sure how many more in this series or when the next ones will be published. Stay tuned)


Last year, when it was publicly revealed that film producer Harvey Weinstein has sexually harassed and even sexually assaulted some famous actresses,  it was a major turning point in gender relations! 

It was like Waterloo, Midway, Stalingrad all in one! The tides have turned and the once powerful were about to get pounded big time!

 It was only a year earlier that revelations that Donald Trump not only bragged about grabbing women's privates, but that he also walked around women's  dressing rooms at a teen pageant,  forcibly kissed women alone in his rooms, raped his ex-wife out of anger, and raped a 13-year old victim of sex trafficking. None of those allegations stopped him from winning presidency. It didn't help that his main opponent, Hillary Clinton, who presents herself as a feminist hero, also continued to be married to longtime husband Bill Clinton who not only had affairs, but also had multiple groping and even rape allegations against him. 

With Trump's victory, there was a women led protest the day after his inauguration. It was a reaction against a nation voting for a sexual predator. 

However, while it was easy for liberals to loudly denounce Republican sexual predators, there was still much silence about Democrat sexual predators.

That is, until the story about longtime Democrat donor (and guest to Clinton and Obama fundraisers) Harvey Weinstein became public. 

At that point, liberal had to look themselves in the mirror and say "NO MORE" to enabling sexual predators in their midst.

It made it so much for that to happen when the Democrats were out of power, as noted in the Medium article by Charlie Peach

Charlie Peach, “The Big Thank You that Hollywood, Liberals and Feminists Owe Trump…,” Medium, December 17, 2017
 https://medium.com/@CharliePeach/the-big-thank-you-that-hollywood-liberals-and-feminists-owe-trump-75268b6303f9.


Liberals and Feminists should be thanking Trump for his election because we all know that had Hillary won, they would all be gleefully partying right now in the White House with Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Kevin Spacey, Larry King, Russell Simmons, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, Louis C.K, George Takai, Al Franken etc.,….all of these men would be on the Clinton White House Celebrity guest list, and all of the women and feminists in Hollywood would be adorned with their most expensive couture gowns for the evening, with Anna Wintour writing how In Vogue and unprecedented it was and Huma Abedin prancing and posing, while trying her best not to be accused of being inappropriate and uncouth as they did to Desiree Rogers, during the Obama Administration. Harvey Weinstein would have carte blanche from all in attendance, everyone from Hillary down to the maids would know of his ilk, yet all would pretend otherwise.

We know that Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein, would have already picked out the hottest blondes to take back to the Lincoln bedroom for the night. All of Hollywood & Wall Street execs, would’ve paid for their night of sexual bliss and male chest pumping in one of the many bedrooms that the Clinton’s had no shame in selling before. If it were not for Trump, white women in Hollywood would still be silent counting their money and Hollywood success, while white men like Weinstein would continue to victimize any woman who dared seek his attention or support. 

One of the listed names, Al Franken, was once thought to be good opponent against Donald Trump for the 2020 elections.  He was seen as someone who isn't afraid to tell Donald Trump to "f--- off" and not back down when Trump yells out his usual insults.

However, like Donald Trump, Al Franken has his own trail of sexual harassment allegations. However, there is physical evidence, with a photo of him groping a sleeping Leann Tweeden while on a ride back from their USO Tours!

Even with that, Democrats were reluctant to demand Al Franken resign!

The Hawaii  representatives in US Congress (all Democrats who call themselves "progressives') were all reluctant to demand Al Franken resign, as noted in this meme that was posted on Hawaii Republican Action - HIRA facebook page on 11/17/2017

Why won't Mazie, Colleen, Tulsi or Little Brian call on proven sexual harasser Al Franken to resign? Maybe because he's a Democrat too?
11/17/2017


But this wasn't the only sexual predator that Hawaii Democrats have been protecting.

All those listed on the memes (Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz) have been SILENT about the sexually predatory actions of Dan Inouye.

Dan Inouye, a longtime Democrat senator, is seen as a "saint" by many, due to his inspiring story of overcoming anti-Japanese racism after the Pearl Harbor attacks, losing his arm on the battlefield during World War 2, and coming back to start a long political career in which he rose to the ranks as a US Senator with the seniority to bring federal funds to Hawaii. 

This addiction to federal funds have keep people voting for Dan Inouye who remained in office until his death in 2012!

This addiction to federal funds has also kept many people from criticizing his very public sexual predatory allegations surrounding Dan Inouye and the hairdresser Lenore Kwock!

Denby Fawcett, “Denby Fawcett: Would Dan Inouye Have Survived 1992 Sex Allegations Today?,” Civil Beat, November 28, 2017
 http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/11/denby-fawcett-would-dan-inouye-have-survived-1992-sex-allegations-today/.


In 1992, Inouyeʻs hairdresser, Lenore Kwock, alleged that the senator forced her to have sex with him and that he groped her in a hair salon after that. Inouye denied the allegations, as well as unsubstantiated claims that he had abused nine other women.
After a brief flurry of news reports, Inouye won re-election and emerged from the scandal largely unscathed.
In an interview Monday, Kwock said she thinks people might be more understanding today of what happened to her because many women now are are telling similar stories of sexual harassment by powerful men.
“Back in those days, it was how some men treated women,” she said. “It was purely selfish on their part without concern for the woman’s feelings.”

and more details


Kwockʻs claim that Inouye sexually abused her came in October 1992, when he was running for re-election to a sixth term in office. In a news conference, Kwock told reporters the senator had coerced her to have sexual intercourse with him in his Waikiki apartment 17 years earlier when she was 22 and starting her career as a hairdresser.
She said her boss at the hair salon at the Ilikai Hotel where she worked sent her to Inouyeʻs apartment on an errand. Kwock said as soon as she walked through the door, “he grabbed me and proceeded his advances on me.

She remembers today, “Even though he had only one arm, he had strength. I tried pushing him but I didn’t get anywhere.

“I was very young, inexperienced and scared,” Kwock said then. “I felt overpowered by him and the fact that he was Daniel Inouye. He removed my clothing and Iʻm just thinking, ‘This is going to happen.’”
She said back then she didn’t consider it rape because although she tried to push him back, she gave in to him. She said she was too afraid to to do anything else.

She was quoted at the time in The Honolulu Advertiser saying, “I told Inouye ʻNo I donʻt want to get pregnant’ … and he opened up the drawer and got out contraceptive foam, which I had never seen and I donʻt know how to use it so he did everything.”

Kwock said that after the incident, when Inouye came in for a haircut, as she was shampooing his hair in a partially partitioned room he reached his hand up her dress. She says he tried to do the same thing in other hair appointments, but that she was able to evade him by moving over to the right side of the basin, the side of his missing arm, so he could not reach out to grab at her.
She said sometimes he made lewd remarks, reminding her about the sexual encounter in his apartment. He repeatedly asked her to go out to dinner with him at expensive restaurants, but she says she always refused. 

Look at what was highlighted in red!

These details have long been public!

Yet our Congressional delegation  (Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz) who all love to present themselves as "progressives" have been SILENT about these sickening and predatory actions by Dan Inouye!

So-called progressive feminists Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz have been silent about Dan Inouye forcing a powerless, passive women to have sex against her will!

So-called progressive feminists Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz have been silent about Dan Inouye gaslighting and taunting the same women after his sexual assault!

So-called progressive feminists Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz are all phonies when it comes to advocating for sexual abuse victims!

So-called progressive feminists Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz  are all phonies when it comes to standing up to powerful men who prey on vulnerable women!



All Four of them present themselves as progressive, feminist Democrats. All Four of them are silent about the sexual predatory actions of their "saint" Dan Inouye!
original photo by Anthony Quitano of Civil Beat
captions added by Pablo Wegesend courtesy of Paint



Former state legislator Anelle Amaral (who was a former cop who taught rape prevention) was willing to publicly criticize Dan Inouye at the time, but she didn't get much support from other female politicians


Amaral was even more dismayed when women lawmakers rejected her suggestion that they get involved in the issue.
The same women who had run to the microphone at every possible opportunity to support Anita Hill in her battle against (U.S. Supreme Court nominee) Clarence Thomas all stood back and didn’t say a word about this poor, powerless hairdresser. It just stunned me,” she said.
Amaral said nine other women called her office to say they had received similar unwanted sexual attention from Inouye, but they declined to come forward publicly.

Fast forward to this decade!  Dan Inouye is so viewed as a saint that they are naming schools, buildings, telescopes and even Honolulu's airport after him.

The University of Hawaii was ready to build an unofficial shrine (it was to be a new building named in his honor that was intended to be building dedicated to the social sciences) but only backed off due to the university's maintenance backlog and a more urgent need to build a new life sciences building. 



This rapist has schools, buildings, telescopes and airports named after him!

original photo by Brian Tseng of Civil Beat
captions added by Pablo Wegesend, courtesy of Paint

Dan Inouye is lucky to be dead by 2012. This protects him from the new round of outrage against him that would've been inspired by the #metoo movement!

I mean, look, Al Franken (plus John Conyers) were later pressured to resign when it looked like Republican sexual predator Roy Moore was about to win a US Senate seat in  a mostly Republican state of Alabama!  Democrats needed to present a "high ground" to show that they were truly serious about going after sexual assault allegations against Roy Moore! They wouldn't have been able to do it had Al Franken, John Conyers and Dan Inouye remained in office!   It was only because Inouye was dead, and that Franken  & Conyers resigned that gave the Democrats the credibility they needed to defeat Roy Moore.

Dan Inouye would've resigned in disgrace and be seen as a joke had he lived long enough to experience the #metoo movement. Who knows, maybe a local comedian would've finally had the guts to  taunt  Dan Inouye in a viral comedy  routine the same way Hannibal Burress taunted Bill Cosby!  

Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa, Tulsi Gabbard and Brian Schatz were serious about the issue of sexual predatory behavior, they would demand his name be scrubbed off  the places named after him. Or at least scrub his name off the airport, and rename it Honolulu International Airport again!

Meanwhile, Dan Inouye, just like John Conyers, was also protected by the fact that people were scared of being called "Uncle Toms" or "race traitors"


Kwock says after she told her story she got phone calls from people threatening her. Some of her Japanese-American clients seemed especially dismayed.
“They said to me, ‘Don’t take him down.’ Dan Inouye was their hero,” she said.
And people who came forward to support Kwock faced accusations of disloyalty.

In other words, racial tribal loyalty was more important to some people than actually judging people based on the content of their character!  


As for the common male fear of false accusations, there was this


Political columnist Neal Milner, interviewed by The New York Times in 1992 when the Inouye allegations were leveled, said then that Democrats in Hawaii “don’t have to worry about defending themselves. All Inouye has to say is, ‘No I didn’t,’ and that’s enough to protect him.”
That was despite the fact a pre-election poll showed 42 percent of the likely voters believed Kwock and only 20 percent believed Inouye. And Kwock passed a lie detector test when Inouye refused to take one.

All I know is that if someone made a false allegation against me, I would definitely take a lie detector test. I would multiple lie detectors conducted by multiple different testers just to make sure there's credibility on my side! 

But Dan Inouye didn't! Why? Because he's Dan Inouye, the rules don't apply to him! 

Well, since Dan Inouye claimed to be a Christian, he's sure being held accountable in the afterlife! 


clarification on forgiveness

I have recently posted this on facebook

I have actually lost friends for pointing out how dangerous it is to demand forgiveness towards abusers! For mentioning this, I was falsely accused of believing that "forgiveness is evil", which is so far from what I'm actually saying! 

There's a HUGE GIGANTIC DIFFERENCE between forgiving someone who bumped into you by accident versus forgiving a rapist.

There's a HUGE GIGANTIC DIFFERENCE between forgiving someone who gave you a stink-eye versus forgiving a violent bigoted bully!

It's not comparing apples to oranges, it's comparing apples to uranium!


Now, I'm not interested in restarting old beefs!

I am interested in having peace talks with those friends I have lost over that issue! With those peace talks, we can come to an understanding.  In fact, I am even willing to ............. forgive them!

The only reason I am bringing this up is because I came across this article dealing with a gymnast who testified against a team doctor who sexually molested her!

Carol Kuruvilla, “First Woman To Accuse Nassar Says Church Can Be One Of ‘Worst Places’ To Go For Help,” Huffington Post, February 02, 2018,
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rachael-denhollander-the-church-isnt-safe-for-sexual-abuse-victims_us_5a73264ce4b06fa61b4e1574?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313.

article also available at 
https://www.yahoo.com/news/first-woman-accuse-nassar-says-203226814.html




The article mentions how religious leaders demanding that their followers forgive their abusers cause even more harm to the abused



“Many churches hold poor interpretations of Scripture that imply the victim is somehow at fault for dressing or acting a certain way ‘immodestly,’ that speaking up about abuse is ‘gossip’ or ‘slander,’ and that forgiveness is moving on without demanding justice for the victims,” Easter told HuffPost. “These stances are a stark contrast from Jesus’ ministry to the marginalized.”



(skipped paragraphs)



Meanwhile, other aspects of evangelical Christian theology, such as the emphasis on forgiveness of sin, can enable covering up sexual abuse. 



You see, evildoers will do anything to prevent themselves from being held accountable!

[note: evildoers refer to severely abusive bullies which can include but not limited to those who commit rape, hate crimes, genocide, terrorism and more. They can also be school or workplace bullies who constantly terrorize their peers and subordinates. The term "evildoers" do not refer to those who accidentally offend others.]

Evildoers LOVE IT when their victims are pressured to forgive, because that makes it less likely for the victims to find ways to hold them accountable! 

This makes it less likely for victims to report evildoers to the authorities!

This makes it less likely for evildoers to face REAL consequences!

These evildoers TRULY DON'T CARE if others are saddened by their actions.

The only thing these evildoers understand are power, strength, fear and humiliation! 

The only thing that will stop them is Real Painful Consequences which ran range from losing their jobs, social isolation, imprisonment, public humiliation and even death!

Evildoers laugh in the face of squeamishness towards giving them Real Painful Consequences! 


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There is a place in this world for forgiveness!

I easily forgive those who accidentally caused inconveniences for me.

I have forgiven who made jokes that offended me because they didn't know those jokes would offend me!

I have forgiven elementary bullies that have learned to respect me at the end of our elementary years.

I have forgiven my own students who have given me headaches with their  misbehavior.

I have forgiven people who in the heat of the moment, talked to me in a less than ideal tone of voice, because I now know they didn't mean it that way! 

I have forgiven my parents for making less than ideal decisions that made life harder for me growing up!

I have forgiven people I have had heated disagreements with.



However, I have given forgiveness NOT because of pressure from others, but because of time passed and the understanding of context of the situations. I have given forgiveness because the other person  showed he/she earned it! 

However, demanding forgiveness from people who are still going through their grieving process only increase the pain! Not only does it increase the psychological pain, it super-magnifies the pain! 

Demanding forgiveness super-magnifies the pain because the underlying message is "f*** your feelings"

 Demanding forgiveness super-magnifies the pain because the underlying message is "your hurt isn't real"

Demanding forgiveness super-magnifies the pain because the underlying message is "let the other people do what he/she wants to you"

Demanding forgiveness super-magnifies the pain because the underlying message is "what that other person did isn't so bad"

Demanding forgiveness super-magnifies the pain because the underlying message is "holding others accountable for what they did to you is worse than what they did to you"

If that's the message you are sending, then you are helping evil! 

It doesn't matter if you are trying to sound spiritual or loving when you saying, you are still helping evil when you demand forgiveness of severe evil!

If your tone of voice gives out that you are more outraged at the lack of forgiveness than you are at the troublemakers, then you are the problem! 

It's fine if you want peace and the reduction of conflict! It's fine if you want to do some mediation (in Hawaii, we call it hooponopono), but DAMMIT let the victims complete their stages of the grieving process!

And dammit, at least have some sincere outrage towards the troublemakers and evildoers! 


Sunday, February 11, 2018

In Memory of Rumours Nightclub

At the lobby of Ala Moana Hotel was one of the most popular nightclubs in Honolulu  ---- Rumours Nightclub!

Rumours Nightclub has been around for decades, but it shut down on 1/28/2018. The announcement was made in December, so everybody went there in its final weeks to for their one last time! 

An article about the end of Rumours from Hawaii News Now at http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/36991868/goodbye-youth-rumours-nightclub-is-closing-after-34-years



The long lines at Rumours on January 13, 2018


The club has been known for many things. It has been a host to private parties, school banquets, and reunions (I once contacted them about hosting my 15th year reunion, but it was too expensive).  The club had Latin Nights on Wednesdays. Friday nights had the latest hip-hop.

But what really made Rumours Nightclub famous was its Saturday night parties. The night was famous for its 80s and 90s music (though some music from other decades were mixed in too)  with a mix of disco, funk, R&B, 80's rock, dancehall, Latin and hip-hop. The music of Micheal Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Bee Gees, Stevie B, Gloria Estefan,  Whispers,  Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, Journey, Bon Jovi, Bobby Brown, Salt n Pepa, 2 Live Crew, 2pac, Biggie, Usher and much more.  Even the younger artists like Rihanna, Pitbull, and Bruno Mars are added into the mix.

On Saturday nights, it was "cougar town" with many people from that era's generation reliving the classics they enjoyed in their younger years.  But it wasn't just the "old folks" who came out to play. Younger adults not yet born when the Thriller album came out, also came out to Rumours to party with their elders.

If  bumping & grinding with an adult 2 decades apart was your thing, Rumours Nightclub was the place to be!   😎😎😎

It wasn't only the music, it was the "cages",  were you can be the center of attention!



That's me in the cage: 30th birthday (2010)


The competition for the "cages" was fierce, that sometimes, there were literally fights over it! 

Sadly, fights do happen where alcohol is served!  But most of the time, there was no fights, no drama. Just everyone having a good time!

It was the place to be seen, where you might run into not only your current friends, but also your former classmate, former co-workers, a friend of a friend, even your friend's auntie! 

The most memorable for that one was my 30th birthday, where I saw a classmate who was in the military. Even though we were facebook friends, I didn't even know he was back in the islands until that night! He wasn't able to attend our 10th reunion the previous year, but he said that being on facebook and seeing updates from fellow classmates lifted his spirits when he was on deployment overseas. I'm sure that night at Rumours gave his spirit another lift.

Another memory a few years later involved another classmate who was a former military member who moved to the continent. When he visited Hawaii, he contacted me on facebook to meet him at Rumours.  It's like when people who grew up in Hawaii return to visit, their priorities are to eat at Zippy's and party at Rumours!

Rumours was also the place for going-away parties. One of my college classmates who about to return to the continent had her last night celebration at Rumours!  But the interesting about that is even though she was leaving, she introduced me to new friends, some of whom I partied with on my last visit to Rumours. One of those friends had a disability but that didn't stop her from being the life of the party.  As long as you had great spirits, you were accepted at Rumours!

The staff at Rumours were wonderful. The people at the door politely answered any questions you may have. The bartenders were really chill people. The security were polite, even when they notified you that you can't bring drinks to the dance floor. Even when they broke up fights, they didn't use heavy-handed tactics. The funniest incident was when they carried a drunken aggressive guy like a baby!

But even with all the craziness, Rumours Nightclub was the place to be!

While the fun at Rumours Nightclub has come to an end, the memories and the spirits lives on in the hearts of many :)

Mahalo Nui Loa to all the staff & guests at Rumours Nightclub!


Back when I had the wild long hair in 2010



The dancefloor on 1/13/2018





 The Micheal Jackson impersonator dancing to a Micheal Jackson song



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note: all photos on this blog post are copyrighted to Pablo Wegesend