Some random thoughts
1) Earlier in the past week, at a school I work at , another teacher mentioned about a time a bunch of kids told him off with "we don't need to learn this, we don't need this later in life". That teacher responded with something along the lines of "one day, you'll have kids and they're going ask you about this topic. It will be embarrassing if you don't have an answer."
-------------------
2) One of the funniest quote on the "gays in the military controversy"! This one was written by Casey Ishitani
"I want to see a homophobic neo-con and an outed, discharged Marine or Ranger go head-to-head, no-holds-barred on a mat with sticks and we'll see who gets to ask and who gets to tell"
---------
Now my thoughts on those who object to gays in the military.
This mentality of "ewww, I don't want to work with him, he's gay" is bad enough hearing from middle school students. Any adult with that mentality is a seriously immature person!
3) The link below mentioned about a group of teachers in Oregon that didn't want to chaperone a school dance because kids might be "freak dancing"
http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/11/12/dirty_dancing/index.html
Obviously, when I work at the schools, I got to enforce school rules. As a substitute teacher, I remember having to enforce rules against dirty dancing. Just doing my job!
However, I think people over-react to this "freak dancing".
They whine about "how gross" freak dancing is! You can't pregnant from freak dancing. If you can't satisfy your man/woman in that manner, someone else will! It wouldn't even matter how much "values" were taught by his/her parents! That's the politically incorrect reality!
Also, some people react to freak dancing with "omg, if the kids are dirty dancing, that would automatically lead to sexual intercourse" !
Useless fear-mongering!
I mean, in overwhelming majority of my experiences in dance parties in which some dirty dancing is featured, the overwhelming majority of those "dirty dances" are like one-song stands, meaning in most cases, you'll probably aren't likely to freak dance (or do anything else) with that person again after the song is over! In most cases, most people just move on to dancing with the next person.
Unlike the fear-mongering stories, they just dance dirty for a little while, then that's it, nothing else! A dance is just a dance! And life goes on as usual!
But it's a lot more easier to scare people with "omg, if the kids are dirty dancing, that would automatically lead to sexual intercourse" which happens way more often in fantasy than real life!
Sometimes, a dance is just a dance! Find more important things to worry about!
4) Still working on my blog post on the US elections from earlier this month! Stay tuned!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Commentary on the 2010 Elections, part 1: Hawaii edition
Last Tuesday (11/2/10) was Election Day!
Hawaii really went in a different direction than the rest of the USA!
On the continental US, there was so much anger at Obama & his fellow Democrats over the on-going recession, health reform, cap & trade, and other issues, that the Republicans gained major momentum. They gained more than enough seats to control the US House of Representatives! They did gain some seats in the US Senate, but not enough to gain majority status. The Republicans also added more governors and state legislatures as well!
However, in Hawaii, the opposite happened! The Democrats gained stronger control of the state! The imbalance between the 2 parties has gotten even greater!
1) Governor's seat
For most of Hawaii's history under statehood, Democrats controlled the governor's seat. Then 8 years ago, Linda Lingle became the 1st Republican governor in 4 decades! Then in 2006, Lingle got overwhelming re-elected!
But now, the Democrats got the governor's seat again! Former Congressman Neil Abercrombie defeated Duke Aiona, who was Lingle's Lt. Governor!
While the election was predicted to be a close election, I was predicting Abercrombie might win, due to the backlash against Lingle over Furlough Fridays.
While the Board of Education, Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Assocation (HSTA) also agreed to last school year's Furlough Fridays, Lingle was the most visible person in all this! And while Lingle was no longer up for re-election, I sensed the voters would take it out on Duke Aiona!
I was right about Aiona's chance of losing, but I was surprised by Abercrombie's margin of victory!
It wasn't just Abercrombie beating Aiona by 58% - 42%.
What really surprised me was how the State House districts voted!
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101104_Abercrombie_wins_all_but_1_district.html
As that title said, Abercrombie only lost 1 State House district. That district (District 40 - Kapolei, Makakilo and Royal Kunia) just happens to be the one where Aiona lives.
Aiona couldn't even win District #32, which was where his running mate, Lynn Finnegan, represented in the State House. That district has Pearl Harbor, Hickam and the surrounding areas. It has plenty of military housing and Republicans have usually gotten support there.
But the districts that surprised me the most were Districts 17,18 and 19. Those are in East Honolulu, which is where the Republicans have the strongest support in Hawaii. That is a wealthy district, which I consider Hawaii's version of Orange County! Everytime I go there, I saw more signs supporting Republican candidates, way more often than I do in other parts of the island.
But yeah, that's how widespread the frustration over Furlough Fridays were, that even people in the most conservative districts were willing to take it out on Aiona! So much so that people were willing to overlook Abercrombie's evasiveness on issues like government spending, taxation, and legalizing marijuana.
2) US Congress
For the US Senate, only Dan Inouye was up for re-election. He has seniority in the US Senate, which allows him to bring more federal dollars to Hawaii. Because of this, Inouye usually wins re-election easily!
For US House District #2 (rural Oahu, Neighbor Islands) Mazie Hirono easily defeated lesser known competitors.
But the Congressional race that really got people's attention was US House District #1 (urban Honolulu). That was Abercrombie's district.
Because Abercrombie left that seat early to run for governor, there was a free-for-all special election back on May! The Democrats were divided between the more left-liberal Coleen Hanabusa and the moderate Ed Case. The Republicans were united around Charles Djou.
I wrote about that special election at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#4502698201819331140
But since then, the Democrats has united around Coleen Hanabusa.
This election was predicted to be close.
I predicted Djou to win that one! He didn't have the burden of Furlough Fridays to drag him down. While he was a strong believer in the Republican message on cutting taxes and government spending, he was more moderate than most national Republicans on immigration, gays in the military, and other religious/moral issues. He did mention that he didn't favor abortion, but preferred that government not ban it either. I thought all of that was good enough to help Djou win the election.
However, Hanabusa defeated Djou this time! It was a closer election than Abercrombie vs Aiona.
Djou also won more State House districts than Aiona did, as you could see on this map!
http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20101104_loc_hanabusachart.jpg
Djou was able to win East Honolulu which he represented on the Honolulu City Council. It was also the areas which I mentioned earlier that I was surprised to see Aiona lose.
Djou was also able to win in Ewa and Mililani, which tend to be "swing districts" that are usually up for grabs between Democrats and Republicans.
---
What really irritated me about Colleen Hanabusa was her "you can't always say no" slogan, which was taunting Djou for his various votes in his City Council days when he voted against some of the Mayor's and City Council's ideas.
It's this attitude of "you gotta fit in, no matter what, even if it means compromising your principles". This shows that Hanabusa is more of a follower than a leader.
It's easy for Hanabusa to taunt Djou with "you can't always say no" since she was in the majority in the state Senate! It's easy for a Democrat to go along with everyone else, since they're the majority in the state legislature.
In Congress, which Hanabusa is about to join, THINGS ARE NOT LIKE THAT!
Hanabusa thinks she can easily work with the other people in the US House of Representatives! Hanabusa is about to get a reality check. Now's she will be in the minority party!
She thinks she can convince the Republicans to see her point of view. She's about to get a rude awakening.
Most of those Republicans are WAY MORE right-wing than Djou! Many of them come from conservative states like Idaho, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, etc. Many of those Republicans are under MAJOR PRESSURE from their voters to AVOID collaborating with Democrats like Hanabusa! That's how it is in most of the continental US this year.
Guess what will happen when Republicans in the US House pass a bill.
Hanabusa would be voting no! What comes around goes around!
3) Negative ads
People kept saying "negative ads don't work in Hawaii"!
THAT IS A LIE!
I remember back in 1998, Ben Cayetano and his supporters used a lot of negative advertising to stop Lingle's 1st attempt at being governor!
There were ads from Cayetano saying "the people are not stupid" in response to the things Lingle was saying. There were ads in which disgruntled Maui residents expressed their unhappiness about when Lingle was Mayor of Maui County. Inouye was even saying stuff like "I'm supporting Cayetano because he knows what it's like to raise a family" which was a veiled attack on Lingle being childless.
Ironically, Inouye is now saying negative ads are bad for Hawaii, which is #1 - hypocritical, #2 - relied on people forgetting his 1998 ad, #3 yeah, he didn't use negative ads this time, since he was up against lesser-known candidates this year. I really believe that had Inouye faced better known, better financed competitors, Inouye would've used negative ads!
Also, negative ads against Djou worked. Those were ads that attacked Djou's voting record in his short time in Congress, and taunted him for "voting 90% with Republicans" and saying "that's not independent". Hanabusa also taunted Djou with "you can't say no all the time"
---
Those who say stuff like "negative ads don't work in Hawaii" like to portray this myth about Hawaii as a place where bullying, yelling, prejudice, and crime doesn't exist! Which we all know it's Bull-Stuff! Hawaii isn't that different from anywhere else! Yes, the aloha spirit thrives here, but let's not BS ourselves and pretend that we all get along!
---
What is truly annoying are these "positive ads" that shows the candidate, his family, and say stuff like "my parents taught me values" and shows the candidate with his/her parents, spouse, children, etc.
It's just "vote for me because I got a nice looking family".
Those ads say NOTHING about what the candidate will do while in office. They say NOTHING about what unique policies that candidate will pursue. Those ads mention NOTHING about specific plans to solve our major problems.
Imagine if all we had were such pathetic "positive ads". Candidates won't have to worry about having flaws about their policy plans being exposed! Now, THAT is WAY MORE DANGEROUS than "negative advertising".
At least with negative advertising, you can expose what kind of harm that can come with your opponent's plans. If done right, you could actually save the state some heartache by making sure the people know the consequences of your opponent's policies.
4) Soon, I'll be talking about national races in this recent election! Stay tuned!
Hawaii really went in a different direction than the rest of the USA!
On the continental US, there was so much anger at Obama & his fellow Democrats over the on-going recession, health reform, cap & trade, and other issues, that the Republicans gained major momentum. They gained more than enough seats to control the US House of Representatives! They did gain some seats in the US Senate, but not enough to gain majority status. The Republicans also added more governors and state legislatures as well!
However, in Hawaii, the opposite happened! The Democrats gained stronger control of the state! The imbalance between the 2 parties has gotten even greater!
1) Governor's seat
For most of Hawaii's history under statehood, Democrats controlled the governor's seat. Then 8 years ago, Linda Lingle became the 1st Republican governor in 4 decades! Then in 2006, Lingle got overwhelming re-elected!
But now, the Democrats got the governor's seat again! Former Congressman Neil Abercrombie defeated Duke Aiona, who was Lingle's Lt. Governor!
While the election was predicted to be a close election, I was predicting Abercrombie might win, due to the backlash against Lingle over Furlough Fridays.
While the Board of Education, Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Assocation (HSTA) also agreed to last school year's Furlough Fridays, Lingle was the most visible person in all this! And while Lingle was no longer up for re-election, I sensed the voters would take it out on Duke Aiona!
I was right about Aiona's chance of losing, but I was surprised by Abercrombie's margin of victory!
It wasn't just Abercrombie beating Aiona by 58% - 42%.
What really surprised me was how the State House districts voted!
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101104_Abercrombie_wins_all_but_1_district.html
As that title said, Abercrombie only lost 1 State House district. That district (District 40 - Kapolei, Makakilo and Royal Kunia) just happens to be the one where Aiona lives.
Aiona couldn't even win District #32, which was where his running mate, Lynn Finnegan, represented in the State House. That district has Pearl Harbor, Hickam and the surrounding areas. It has plenty of military housing and Republicans have usually gotten support there.
But the districts that surprised me the most were Districts 17,18 and 19. Those are in East Honolulu, which is where the Republicans have the strongest support in Hawaii. That is a wealthy district, which I consider Hawaii's version of Orange County! Everytime I go there, I saw more signs supporting Republican candidates, way more often than I do in other parts of the island.
But yeah, that's how widespread the frustration over Furlough Fridays were, that even people in the most conservative districts were willing to take it out on Aiona! So much so that people were willing to overlook Abercrombie's evasiveness on issues like government spending, taxation, and legalizing marijuana.
2) US Congress
For the US Senate, only Dan Inouye was up for re-election. He has seniority in the US Senate, which allows him to bring more federal dollars to Hawaii. Because of this, Inouye usually wins re-election easily!
For US House District #2 (rural Oahu, Neighbor Islands) Mazie Hirono easily defeated lesser known competitors.
But the Congressional race that really got people's attention was US House District #1 (urban Honolulu). That was Abercrombie's district.
Because Abercrombie left that seat early to run for governor, there was a free-for-all special election back on May! The Democrats were divided between the more left-liberal Coleen Hanabusa and the moderate Ed Case. The Republicans were united around Charles Djou.
I wrote about that special election at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#4502698201819331140
But since then, the Democrats has united around Coleen Hanabusa.
This election was predicted to be close.
I predicted Djou to win that one! He didn't have the burden of Furlough Fridays to drag him down. While he was a strong believer in the Republican message on cutting taxes and government spending, he was more moderate than most national Republicans on immigration, gays in the military, and other religious/moral issues. He did mention that he didn't favor abortion, but preferred that government not ban it either. I thought all of that was good enough to help Djou win the election.
However, Hanabusa defeated Djou this time! It was a closer election than Abercrombie vs Aiona.
Djou also won more State House districts than Aiona did, as you could see on this map!
http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20101104_loc_hanabusachart.jpg
Djou was able to win East Honolulu which he represented on the Honolulu City Council. It was also the areas which I mentioned earlier that I was surprised to see Aiona lose.
Djou was also able to win in Ewa and Mililani, which tend to be "swing districts" that are usually up for grabs between Democrats and Republicans.
---
What really irritated me about Colleen Hanabusa was her "you can't always say no" slogan, which was taunting Djou for his various votes in his City Council days when he voted against some of the Mayor's and City Council's ideas.
It's this attitude of "you gotta fit in, no matter what, even if it means compromising your principles". This shows that Hanabusa is more of a follower than a leader.
It's easy for Hanabusa to taunt Djou with "you can't always say no" since she was in the majority in the state Senate! It's easy for a Democrat to go along with everyone else, since they're the majority in the state legislature.
In Congress, which Hanabusa is about to join, THINGS ARE NOT LIKE THAT!
Hanabusa thinks she can easily work with the other people in the US House of Representatives! Hanabusa is about to get a reality check. Now's she will be in the minority party!
She thinks she can convince the Republicans to see her point of view. She's about to get a rude awakening.
Most of those Republicans are WAY MORE right-wing than Djou! Many of them come from conservative states like Idaho, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, etc. Many of those Republicans are under MAJOR PRESSURE from their voters to AVOID collaborating with Democrats like Hanabusa! That's how it is in most of the continental US this year.
Guess what will happen when Republicans in the US House pass a bill.
Hanabusa would be voting no! What comes around goes around!
3) Negative ads
People kept saying "negative ads don't work in Hawaii"!
THAT IS A LIE!
I remember back in 1998, Ben Cayetano and his supporters used a lot of negative advertising to stop Lingle's 1st attempt at being governor!
There were ads from Cayetano saying "the people are not stupid" in response to the things Lingle was saying. There were ads in which disgruntled Maui residents expressed their unhappiness about when Lingle was Mayor of Maui County. Inouye was even saying stuff like "I'm supporting Cayetano because he knows what it's like to raise a family" which was a veiled attack on Lingle being childless.
Ironically, Inouye is now saying negative ads are bad for Hawaii, which is #1 - hypocritical, #2 - relied on people forgetting his 1998 ad, #3 yeah, he didn't use negative ads this time, since he was up against lesser-known candidates this year. I really believe that had Inouye faced better known, better financed competitors, Inouye would've used negative ads!
Also, negative ads against Djou worked. Those were ads that attacked Djou's voting record in his short time in Congress, and taunted him for "voting 90% with Republicans" and saying "that's not independent". Hanabusa also taunted Djou with "you can't say no all the time"
---
Those who say stuff like "negative ads don't work in Hawaii" like to portray this myth about Hawaii as a place where bullying, yelling, prejudice, and crime doesn't exist! Which we all know it's Bull-Stuff! Hawaii isn't that different from anywhere else! Yes, the aloha spirit thrives here, but let's not BS ourselves and pretend that we all get along!
---
What is truly annoying are these "positive ads" that shows the candidate, his family, and say stuff like "my parents taught me values" and shows the candidate with his/her parents, spouse, children, etc.
It's just "vote for me because I got a nice looking family".
Those ads say NOTHING about what the candidate will do while in office. They say NOTHING about what unique policies that candidate will pursue. Those ads mention NOTHING about specific plans to solve our major problems.
Imagine if all we had were such pathetic "positive ads". Candidates won't have to worry about having flaws about their policy plans being exposed! Now, THAT is WAY MORE DANGEROUS than "negative advertising".
At least with negative advertising, you can expose what kind of harm that can come with your opponent's plans. If done right, you could actually save the state some heartache by making sure the people know the consequences of your opponent's policies.
4) Soon, I'll be talking about national races in this recent election! Stay tuned!
Monday, October 18, 2010
My 3-decade celebration
This past Friday (October 15) was my 30th birthday. A big milestone for me as I celebrated my 3 decades of life.
(and to that guy who keeps telling me that I was alive 9 months before that ...... blah, blah, blah! We only celebrate our life after birth since that is when we're no longer a body part, but a separate human being)
1) I wasn't called to work that day.
Not so good, since I want to get paid.
But very good too, in that I don't have to worry about some crazy student ruining my birthday!
I spent most of my daytime at McCully Library, using the computers for internet.
I posted my previous blog post titled "My first 3 decades of life"
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-first-3-decades-of-life.html
I actually wrote the draft earlier in the week, saved it in my email account, then finally posted it on my birthday!
Then I checked my facebook account, saw plenty of birthday messages. New ones kept popping up! I feel so loved, even by those I haven't seen in person since the previous millenium. That's what facebook is all about, reconnecting with people from earlier phases of life!
In the afternoon, I took a short nap, then made my dinner, took a shower, get dressed! As I left my home, I got a birthday call from my parents
2) The exciting part
Night time falls and it's time to party!
A few months earlier, my friend Aaron G. had an idea of doing karaoke, then clubbing on my birthday night! I LOVED THAT IDEA!
I don't go out at night very often. Only on special occassions. But you can't get any more special than a 30th birthday! So it was a PERFECT TIME to PARTY!!!!!
I tried to invite as many people as possible, even through facebook. But getting people our age to come is tough. Some aren't even on Oahu anymore. Those who are usually have kids. Once that happens, the kids are a bigger priority than spending the night partying! Plus, my relatives who live on the other side of the island had to work until the evenings.
But at any party, you just got to be grateful for whoever shows up! If other people don't come, that's not my problem!
---
First we was at Krazy Karaoke. It was me, Aaron Gabales, Sun Anderson and his girlfriend Nadia.
This was the first time I've seen Sun in person in a decade. We used to be high school classmates but we weren't very close! But he wanted to joined in, and it's always good to reunite with a former classmate! He was taller and depper-voiced than when I last saw him.
Since it was just a few of us, we got to hog the mic :)
My main goal was to sing "Billionaire" and "Teach Me How to Dougie". They didn't have the 2nd song, but they had the 1st one :)
Then we took turns singing songs from Britney Spears, Micheal Jackson, Creed, Roger Troutman, Limp Bizkit, Cyndi Lauper, Aerosmith, Bruddah Iz, Cassie, and a few others as well. We were singing loud, danced and moved around the room as if it was our stage! We were truly living it up! :)
Then our time was running out, so we had one last song. It was "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg!
---
Afterwards, all of us talked story and walked to Jamba Juice, where Aaron's friend Daroll worked. We had a very fun conversation!
Afterwards, Sun and Nadia had to go!
But me and Aaron felt the party was NOWHERE NEAR OVER!
We walked to Rumours Nightclub which is located in the 1st floor of Ala Moana Hotel.
Rumours is known for its 2 cages on the dancefloor. If you dance in the cages, you are pretty much the center of attention. And that's what I loved about it :) Though if you do dance in the cages, it would be a good idea to leave after 2 songs. People get annoyed by those who hog the cages, since they want a chance to dance in the cages too!
One of Aaron's aunties was there and we talked for a while. And he also saw his dad's friend over there. I saw 2 women that I have worked with at various schools I had worked at!
Then I saw another high school classmate - Anthony Bragado. I haven't seen him in person for a decade so we were really excited to see each other. He couldn't come to last year's reunion due to being in the military fighting in Afghanistan. I was happy to see that he made it back home alive and well!
--
While Rumours is also known for playing a lot of old school 80s/90s hip-hop/R&B, this night had more modern hip-hop stuff! Yes, they still played some hip-hop/R&B/dancehall classics from the old days! But they mostly played a lot of newer stuff from the last few years as well.
I'd say most of the songs played were Southern hip-hop. There was some East Coast stuff, the only West Coast played were songs that sounded Southern (ie Too Short "Blow the Whistle", Cali Swag District "Teach Me How to Dougie").
----
The party atmosphere was definitely alive. The dancefloor was packed, people were even dancing off the dancefloor too. I danced the cages a few times, and had 3 ladies dancing with me. I didn't take any home. That's OK, I don't want to make any kids right now!
When the DJs played a junk song, that was time for me to use the bathroom, get a beverage (mostly fruit punch for me, since I'm alcohol free) and just rest. When a better song is on, I'm back to the dance floor.
--
Some people stereotype nightclubs as places where drunken fights occurred. None of that happened that night! It was all good vibes.
--
After the party, I took the taxi home, took a shower, and slept.
3) The Morning After
I only slept a few hours, since my family had their post-birthday breakfast the next morning.
They couldn't make it to my karaoke party, so this was their chance to celebrate my birthday.
My mom, dad, and my 3 nieces (their parents worked that day, so they couldn't make it) had breakfast at Kapiolani Coffee Shop, which merged with Asahi Grill! I had their traditional fried rice and scrambled eggs :) My favorite meal of all time
Spent rest of Saturday reading more facebook messages, then listened to ESPN 1420 AM for the UH game Vs Nevada. I used to go to the bars to watch UH games, but I decided to stay home and listen to it on the radio, so I could multi-task (wash dishes, laundry, etc) as I listen to the game! UH upset Nevada that night, 27-21 :)
---
Sunday, I finally caught up with my sleep, slept 1/2 the day
4) Conclusion
Now that a new work-week has started, it's back to the real-world with me!
But it was a very great and exciting weekend that will live on in my memory until I get amnesia or Alzheimers or death.
I'm already thinking of a 4-decade celebration 10 years from now. Hopefully, more will join the excitement. But even if only a few show up, the party shall go on!!!!
(and to that guy who keeps telling me that I was alive 9 months before that ...... blah, blah, blah! We only celebrate our life after birth since that is when we're no longer a body part, but a separate human being)
1) I wasn't called to work that day.
Not so good, since I want to get paid.
But very good too, in that I don't have to worry about some crazy student ruining my birthday!
I spent most of my daytime at McCully Library, using the computers for internet.
I posted my previous blog post titled "My first 3 decades of life"
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-first-3-decades-of-life.html
I actually wrote the draft earlier in the week, saved it in my email account, then finally posted it on my birthday!
Then I checked my facebook account, saw plenty of birthday messages. New ones kept popping up! I feel so loved, even by those I haven't seen in person since the previous millenium. That's what facebook is all about, reconnecting with people from earlier phases of life!
In the afternoon, I took a short nap, then made my dinner, took a shower, get dressed! As I left my home, I got a birthday call from my parents
2) The exciting part
Night time falls and it's time to party!
A few months earlier, my friend Aaron G. had an idea of doing karaoke, then clubbing on my birthday night! I LOVED THAT IDEA!
I don't go out at night very often. Only on special occassions. But you can't get any more special than a 30th birthday! So it was a PERFECT TIME to PARTY!!!!!
I tried to invite as many people as possible, even through facebook. But getting people our age to come is tough. Some aren't even on Oahu anymore. Those who are usually have kids. Once that happens, the kids are a bigger priority than spending the night partying! Plus, my relatives who live on the other side of the island had to work until the evenings.
But at any party, you just got to be grateful for whoever shows up! If other people don't come, that's not my problem!
---
First we was at Krazy Karaoke. It was me, Aaron Gabales, Sun Anderson and his girlfriend Nadia.
This was the first time I've seen Sun in person in a decade. We used to be high school classmates but we weren't very close! But he wanted to joined in, and it's always good to reunite with a former classmate! He was taller and depper-voiced than when I last saw him.
Since it was just a few of us, we got to hog the mic :)
My main goal was to sing "Billionaire" and "Teach Me How to Dougie". They didn't have the 2nd song, but they had the 1st one :)
Then we took turns singing songs from Britney Spears, Micheal Jackson, Creed, Roger Troutman, Limp Bizkit, Cyndi Lauper, Aerosmith, Bruddah Iz, Cassie, and a few others as well. We were singing loud, danced and moved around the room as if it was our stage! We were truly living it up! :)
Then our time was running out, so we had one last song. It was "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg!
---
Afterwards, all of us talked story and walked to Jamba Juice, where Aaron's friend Daroll worked. We had a very fun conversation!
Afterwards, Sun and Nadia had to go!
But me and Aaron felt the party was NOWHERE NEAR OVER!
We walked to Rumours Nightclub which is located in the 1st floor of Ala Moana Hotel.
Rumours is known for its 2 cages on the dancefloor. If you dance in the cages, you are pretty much the center of attention. And that's what I loved about it :) Though if you do dance in the cages, it would be a good idea to leave after 2 songs. People get annoyed by those who hog the cages, since they want a chance to dance in the cages too!
One of Aaron's aunties was there and we talked for a while. And he also saw his dad's friend over there. I saw 2 women that I have worked with at various schools I had worked at!
Then I saw another high school classmate - Anthony Bragado. I haven't seen him in person for a decade so we were really excited to see each other. He couldn't come to last year's reunion due to being in the military fighting in Afghanistan. I was happy to see that he made it back home alive and well!
--
While Rumours is also known for playing a lot of old school 80s/90s hip-hop/R&B, this night had more modern hip-hop stuff! Yes, they still played some hip-hop/R&B/dancehall classics from the old days! But they mostly played a lot of newer stuff from the last few years as well.
I'd say most of the songs played were Southern hip-hop. There was some East Coast stuff, the only West Coast played were songs that sounded Southern (ie Too Short "Blow the Whistle", Cali Swag District "Teach Me How to Dougie").
----
The party atmosphere was definitely alive. The dancefloor was packed, people were even dancing off the dancefloor too. I danced the cages a few times, and had 3 ladies dancing with me. I didn't take any home. That's OK, I don't want to make any kids right now!
When the DJs played a junk song, that was time for me to use the bathroom, get a beverage (mostly fruit punch for me, since I'm alcohol free) and just rest. When a better song is on, I'm back to the dance floor.
--
Some people stereotype nightclubs as places where drunken fights occurred. None of that happened that night! It was all good vibes.
--
After the party, I took the taxi home, took a shower, and slept.
3) The Morning After
I only slept a few hours, since my family had their post-birthday breakfast the next morning.
They couldn't make it to my karaoke party, so this was their chance to celebrate my birthday.
My mom, dad, and my 3 nieces (their parents worked that day, so they couldn't make it) had breakfast at Kapiolani Coffee Shop, which merged with Asahi Grill! I had their traditional fried rice and scrambled eggs :) My favorite meal of all time
Spent rest of Saturday reading more facebook messages, then listened to ESPN 1420 AM for the UH game Vs Nevada. I used to go to the bars to watch UH games, but I decided to stay home and listen to it on the radio, so I could multi-task (wash dishes, laundry, etc) as I listen to the game! UH upset Nevada that night, 27-21 :)
---
Sunday, I finally caught up with my sleep, slept 1/2 the day
4) Conclusion
Now that a new work-week has started, it's back to the real-world with me!
But it was a very great and exciting weekend that will live on in my memory until I get amnesia or Alzheimers or death.
I'm already thinking of a 4-decade celebration 10 years from now. Hopefully, more will join the excitement. But even if only a few show up, the party shall go on!!!!
Friday, October 15, 2010
My first 3 decades of life
Today, it's official! I have lived 3 full decades since birth!
A big milestone for me! 3 decades since I was born in Queen's Hospital in downtown Honolulu!
1) My 20's are over!
The 20's are when a person comes out of adolescence and into adulthood!
Some of the lessons you learned as an adolescence has to be unlearned in adulthood!
A lot of the lessons you learned from your peers in your teenage years can put you in serious trouble as an adult.
Back in my teenage years, sometimes people would ask "why don't you fight that guy, are you scared?" if you refuse to fight someone! Because no boy wants to be known as a wuss, losing control of one's anger is encouraged! Losing control of your anger is seen as a "sign of toughness" among teenagers. It can become a habit!
When I started working in the schools, I wanted to be seen as a "cool teacher" but I also didn't want to be seen a "wuss teacher"! In the beginning, though I was usually the "nice guy", I also yelled with rage a few times. But I learned that once that happens, that's the ONLY thing people remember! Everything else is ignored!
Thanks to people like Vince DeBina, Francis Akana, Miles Ogawa, and others, I have learned ways to be stern without rage! These are role models I wish I had earlier in life!
Many parents and teachers don't teach their kids how to stand for themselves, because they don't want their kids to stand up to them! Parents and teachers want to be in control and don't want to lose control of their kids. But the kids won't be kids forever, they need to learn skills of confidence, personal authority, being stern, and avoid rages! This is essential for success in a career and marriage! Parents and teachers need to find ways to instill those lessons! Otherwise, the kids will only learn conflict resolutions from their peers, and in too many cases, those end up being skills more suited to a prison environment than a professional environment!
Another transition many people go through in their 20's is having to learn that what is considered funny among teens can be career-ending as adults. Silliness is rewarded by your peers as a teenager. While I can still be funny and silly, I have to be more careful, now that I have to be a role model! Anything you do, the kids will copy in a more dangerous or offensive manner.
2) Achievements and Accomplishments
I am proud of the achievements and accomplishments I have gained so far in life.
I have been under-estimated at various times, but rised above expectations.
I didn't even start talking until 5 years old. Most kids start talking at age 2! This is came with disadvantages. I had a tendency to mumble and occasionally stutter. Because I didn't "look local" to some, some thought my mumbling was due to "being foreign". I have learned to talk slower and to think of what to say before saying it! I have also told some students that if they feel I was talking too fast, to let me know politely, so I can repeat it in a slower pace. I'm usually understood when I'm talking and I know that because of the way people usually react to what I am saying! But everyone experience hearing people ask "what was that again?", even the smoothest talkers.
Also, because I started talking late, I started kindergarten a year later than other kids born the same year as me. While most kids born in 1980 are in the c/o 98, I was c/o 99 due to the delay in starting kindergarten. That's fine with me, since I did pretty well in most academic subjects. While I was average in math, I was in the higher classes for most other subjects. And I was way ahead of most of my peers when the subject was history and geography. I even won a few geography bees back in elementary school. This was because I was lucky enough to have atlases, encyclopedias in the home I grew up in. Not every kid is lucky to have books in the home. I feel bad for them.
By the time I started adulthood, I graduated high school with a 3.3 GPA, and went to the University of Hawaii - Manoa. Graduating from college was one of my proudest moments of my life, because I accomplished something that many people never get to experience.
For more on my high school life, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-years-ago-today.html
For more on my UH career, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009/12/5-years-since-my-uh-graduation.html
---
I graduated from UH in Fall 2004! Even with my degree, I was still searching for a direction in life. I was inspired by Micheal Meli, who was a UH classmate who graduated a year before me. Right after he graduated, he became a substitute teacher. He indirectly inspired me to become a substitute teacher myself.
I have been working as a substitute teacher for 5 years now. Also, earlier this year, I have gotten a part-time position working as a para-professional tutor at a middle school, working with students in the Special Education program. This is usually 2x a week. I work the other days as a substitute teacher.
I am planning to eventually becoming a full-time teacher! However, I will need to take more classes to get certified. I was considering taking the teacher ed program at UH, though most of the classes are daytime, which can be a scheduling conflict for those with full-time jobs. I am also considering the University of Phoenix, with a master's program that's more flexible for working adults. But it's not yet official.
3) Stuff I still haven't got around to
Back in high school, I wanted to learn how to drive. I did get my permit for those learning to drive.
However, I got distracted by other priorities. School, work, balancing my budgets.
Yep, 30 without a driver's license! People sometimes react to that with shock! It's like they never heard of it before!
I can still get around by bus, bike or walk. Plus, I never have to worry about parking :) I see people driving around the parking lot frustrated by the lack of parking space. Whereas for me, as soon as I get to the place, I just walk right in! :)
No need to worry about paying for gas, paying for car repairs, or paying for car insurance.
Though I do dream of driving around in a green 1964 Chevy Impala, with the hydraulics jumping, and the stereo blasting :) And driving friends and relatives around the island. Or just cruising Kapiolani Blvd or Kalakaua Ave at night with the stereos blasting!
---------
While I have traveled to Mexico, California and Las Vegas, it's been a while. Again, other priorities got in the way!
I do hope to be able to travel to places like Miami, New Orleans, El Paso, San Antonio, Austin, Atlanta! Also, check out all the historical monuments in Washington DC, and check out New York City. Check out Yellowstone, Yosemite, and go to Alaska
While I already visited Mexico, I also dream of visiting my other ancestral lands like Puerto Rico, Spain, Portugal and Germany. While I have a German last name, I don't look German, and I identify with it the least, due to the low exposure to that culture. Because of my last name, I got asked all these questions about German culture by this one immigrant Polish woman, and this one Filipina lady whose husband was stationed in Germany. I told them they had way more exposure to German culture than I did. I only got the last name!
Maybe after visiting my ancestral lands, I want to visit the ancestral lands of my classmates and students. That will mean the other Pacific Islands and Asia. Then I'll continue on to South America, Africa and the Middle East, and wherever else I forgot to mention.
4) Avoiding falling into ghetto stereotypes
I spent the first 14 years of my life in a public housing in Kalihi. While it's officially called "Puahala Homes", everyone just calls it "Lanakila Housing" due to being near a school, park and an avenue all named Lanakila! While it's not as well known, and not as dangerous as other housing complexes like Kuhio Park Terrace, Mayor Wright's Housing or Kalhi Valley Home (aka Kam IV), it is definitely not a quiet suburb!
Even my family circumstances had its own challenges. My mother grew up in the same neighborhood and was a teen parent. My father was an immigrant from Mexico. My father likes to drink beer, and while drunk, is uncontrollable. My mother, while peaceful, loving and caring, doesn't always notice problems until they get too big to ignore.
The stereotype of people who grow up in those circumstances are "they end up being high school dropouts, become alcoholics and drug addicts, they end up living the life of crime and spend prison time, and they become parents while still teenagers".
I sure didn't fit those stereotypes!
I really believe that my success in avoiding these problems growing up was because I usually thought about the long-term. I always thought that doing the right things can open doors in the future.
However, too many kids think in the short-term. They think "homework too hard, why bother". They think "I gotta cut class, smoke and drink to fit in." That is short-term thinking, and THAT is what get kids into trouble.
I mean, I know kids who had more than enough intelligence to do well in school and in life, but were so Short-Term Oriented that they ruined their potential by cutting class, smoking, drinking, and getting involved in the gang life! Very heart-breaking!
As for me, fitting in wasn't a big priority. Even if all the other kids didn't do their homework, I still did mine. Ask anyone in my 9th grade science class if you think I'm exaggerating about all the other kids in class not doing homework.
And I have never cutted class. Sure, some classes have teachers and classmates who weren't ideal! I was thinking long-term! Just go to class, get the work done, get the grade! You can't get ideal situations all the time, so just bear with it!
-------
If you ever wonder why I refuse to drink alcoholic beverages, it's because I refuse to follow the same direction as my father. My father is usually friendly when sober, but gets very moody when drunk. I remember the trip to Mexico, where he raged at his own mother. My dad was drunk! I even remember my mom going to my grandma's home to call the cops on my dad! My dad was drunk! This was why me and my brothers don't drink alcoholic beverages. In fact, my dad is proud that I didn't inherit his bad habits!
Even hearing how the people in the housing act when they were drunk made me want to avoid alcohol! Hearing people making noise late at night, and hearing domestic disputes from nearby residents made me want to remain abstinent from alcohol for life!
Also, everything I heard from guest speakers at school and stuff I read about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs is more than enough to convince me that it's not good to try those things. Pretty much every kid hears those lessons in school! Unfortunately, in too many cases, when those kids grow up, they give in to peer pressure, in a desperate attempt to fit in! However, some things are more important to me than fitting in!
Plus, alcohol smells bad, and I don't even understand why people need to get drunk to have fun. You don't need alcohol to enjoy a sports game, a party, or whatever else!
-----------
The other risks in growing up in the ghettoes include gang involvement and being a teen parent.
I wasn't hard enough to even be recruited by any gang. Maybe that was a good thing! Plus, all the stories I heard about what goes on in prison is more than enough to scare me from getting involved in criminal activity.
Also, I also avoided being a teen parent, since when it comes to getting laid, I just didn't try hard enough! LOL! Maybe that's a good thing too!
5) From the Hood to the Suburbs
When I was 14, my parents had to move out of Lanakila Housing, because their income was over the limit. After all, that complex was made for "low-income people" and my parent's income was no longer "low".
Well, they wanted to "buy" a house. But just like most cases of "buying a house", the bank bought the house for them, on the condition they make monthly payments. While "buying a house" sounds great, being locked into those mortgages makes your life less flexible, especially if your life in the new location doesn't work out!
Well, my parents "bought" a house in one of those suburbs in the western half of Oahu! I HATED IT!
I don't care if the grass was greener, things look nicer, blah, blah, blah! That stuff is meaningless!
Ideally, a kid grows up in the same neighborhood, growing up with the same friends, going to the same school as their peers. This type of consistency is WAY MORE IMPORTANT than green grass, nice scenery, and all that other stuff.
My grandma still lived in the housing, so I stayed there part-time, and used her address so I could attend the same schools as my childhood peers! However, my parents made me stay in their suburban home for the weekends! That was a problem for me!
At age 14, that is when a boy is in process of becoming a man. And yes, there was pressure from peers, my brothers and father to toughen up! Yet, what did my parents do when I was 14? Make me move to a suburb, which is the most emasculating environment known to humanity! That environments sucks all the masculinity out of you, especially when you need it the most.
Also at age 14 is usually when kids are allowed to roam their neighborhoods by themselves. While other kids probably do that earlier, my mom was a bit over-protective on that! I don't blame her, since it was a rough environment. But just as I was ready to be more adventurous in exploring the hood on my own, my parents moved me to the suburbs! Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about that!
Plus, being in the suburbs meant being in the middle of nowhere! There's nothing there! At least in Honolulu, you get easy access to Ala Moana, downtown, Kapiolani Boulevard, Waikiki, and all the other places teens loved to go! Better for me to stay in the inner-city ghetto and have access to those things, than to be stuck in a suburb.
Also, using my grandma's address for school papers can be a problem, because eventually people find out I wasn't living there full-time, and you never know who might snitch to DOE authorities who may be vigilant about students using their real address!
It got to that point where I just couldn't take being in my parent's suburban house! I wanted to move back to urban Honolulu, even if it's in the hood! Going through the emotions described in the previous paragraphs got me to the point where I got into the biggest rage of my life! I punched some big pillows with full rage right in front of my mom and she was terrified! She was in tears! She could no longer handle dealing with this issue, and she called my grandma to let me live with her full-time. Yep, I went back to the hood and stayed with my grandma full-time, which was what should've happened in the first place.
My parents should've just moved to Liliha, Kukui's, downtown, or Keeaumoku. No need to worry about "housing income limits", no need to worry about being evasive about the address, no need to worry about being separated from childhood peers, no need to worry about being away from places people my age loved to go to!
6) Single 4 Life?
On my mother's side of the family, I got 6 uncles. 2 of them are fathers. 4 of them are what I call "single for life"
I think I'm going in the direction of "Single 4 life" just like my 4 uncles.
I like living alone! I can have noise when I want and I can have quiet when I want!
I'm one of those people who can go days without socializing with others. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT hiding from the world! If you want to contact me, I'm EASY to find online! It's just that I like to have some quiet time to myself! I don't need to be around large groups of people all the time!
I do occasionally spend time with friends and family, but not everyday. In fact, since today's my birthday, I'll having a karaoke party with them, and plan to hit the clubs later in the night! I do love occasionally going to big events with tons of people there!
I also love facebook, where it's easy to contact others I haven't seen in a long time. So far, I got 250+ on my list, all people I have met through my 3 decades of life! And I appreciate every one of them for continuing to stay in my life!
For more things I love about being on facebook, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-year-on-facebook.html
As for marriage and kids, I'm not in that direction yet. I'm not much into dating, though I do occasionally love to hit the clubs and dance with the ladies at times :) I'm just not interested in a long-term relationship for now!
I'm not ready for parenthood yet, and I want to be able to plan when I'm having kids.
Too many people make kids when they're not even ready to have kids. Some people are so short-term oriented that they have unprotected sex and end up having kids they're not ready to take care of!
Some people do become good parents, even if they were totally unprepared parents in the beginning! Even those who were teen parents can become great parents. But too many people shouldn't become parents due to their attitude and immaturity! Those people should just use birth control or just stick with the dry humping!
Too many people act like they're shocked when someone says "I don't want to have kids". You should be happy when some people say "I don't want to have kids"! Some people shouldn't be having kids, and we shouldn't pressure them! The kids suffer when they're made by unprepared parents.
7) Conclusion
If you could make it through the end of this blog post, congratulations. I know it is long, and not everyone has the patience to read long pieces of writing!
But yeah, that is what my first 3 decades of life was like! Now it's time for a new phase of life!
New problems, new stress factors! But also new blessings, new things to learn, new exciting things to experiences, new people that will enrich my life for the better! And a new generation to share all my life lessons with!
Even with all those challenges I faced, I still believe you can't be mad at the world all the time! Yeah, I get mad at stuff, but you gotta enjoy the lighter side of life too! Even the Haitian earthquake victims found time during the recovery to play soccer and dance to music. Chances are the rescued Chilean miners will soon do so too. I known war veterans who survived IED explosions come home and dance during reunions. You can't be a 24-7 victim. Sooner or later, you just gotta put your problems on the side, and do something fun once in a while!
While I'm not part of an organized religion, I believe God is looking out for me. While the devil gets in the way at times, I believe God will help me through the crazy times!
I will enjoy this night, and I hope I will have more decades to celebrate!
A big milestone for me! 3 decades since I was born in Queen's Hospital in downtown Honolulu!
1) My 20's are over!
The 20's are when a person comes out of adolescence and into adulthood!
Some of the lessons you learned as an adolescence has to be unlearned in adulthood!
A lot of the lessons you learned from your peers in your teenage years can put you in serious trouble as an adult.
Back in my teenage years, sometimes people would ask "why don't you fight that guy, are you scared?" if you refuse to fight someone! Because no boy wants to be known as a wuss, losing control of one's anger is encouraged! Losing control of your anger is seen as a "sign of toughness" among teenagers. It can become a habit!
When I started working in the schools, I wanted to be seen as a "cool teacher" but I also didn't want to be seen a "wuss teacher"! In the beginning, though I was usually the "nice guy", I also yelled with rage a few times. But I learned that once that happens, that's the ONLY thing people remember! Everything else is ignored!
Thanks to people like Vince DeBina, Francis Akana, Miles Ogawa, and others, I have learned ways to be stern without rage! These are role models I wish I had earlier in life!
Many parents and teachers don't teach their kids how to stand for themselves, because they don't want their kids to stand up to them! Parents and teachers want to be in control and don't want to lose control of their kids. But the kids won't be kids forever, they need to learn skills of confidence, personal authority, being stern, and avoid rages! This is essential for success in a career and marriage! Parents and teachers need to find ways to instill those lessons! Otherwise, the kids will only learn conflict resolutions from their peers, and in too many cases, those end up being skills more suited to a prison environment than a professional environment!
Another transition many people go through in their 20's is having to learn that what is considered funny among teens can be career-ending as adults. Silliness is rewarded by your peers as a teenager. While I can still be funny and silly, I have to be more careful, now that I have to be a role model! Anything you do, the kids will copy in a more dangerous or offensive manner.
2) Achievements and Accomplishments
I am proud of the achievements and accomplishments I have gained so far in life.
I have been under-estimated at various times, but rised above expectations.
I didn't even start talking until 5 years old. Most kids start talking at age 2! This is came with disadvantages. I had a tendency to mumble and occasionally stutter. Because I didn't "look local" to some, some thought my mumbling was due to "being foreign". I have learned to talk slower and to think of what to say before saying it! I have also told some students that if they feel I was talking too fast, to let me know politely, so I can repeat it in a slower pace. I'm usually understood when I'm talking and I know that because of the way people usually react to what I am saying! But everyone experience hearing people ask "what was that again?", even the smoothest talkers.
Also, because I started talking late, I started kindergarten a year later than other kids born the same year as me. While most kids born in 1980 are in the c/o 98, I was c/o 99 due to the delay in starting kindergarten. That's fine with me, since I did pretty well in most academic subjects. While I was average in math, I was in the higher classes for most other subjects. And I was way ahead of most of my peers when the subject was history and geography. I even won a few geography bees back in elementary school. This was because I was lucky enough to have atlases, encyclopedias in the home I grew up in. Not every kid is lucky to have books in the home. I feel bad for them.
By the time I started adulthood, I graduated high school with a 3.3 GPA, and went to the University of Hawaii - Manoa. Graduating from college was one of my proudest moments of my life, because I accomplished something that many people never get to experience.
For more on my high school life, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-years-ago-today.html
For more on my UH career, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009/12/5-years-since-my-uh-graduation.html
---
I graduated from UH in Fall 2004! Even with my degree, I was still searching for a direction in life. I was inspired by Micheal Meli, who was a UH classmate who graduated a year before me. Right after he graduated, he became a substitute teacher. He indirectly inspired me to become a substitute teacher myself.
I have been working as a substitute teacher for 5 years now. Also, earlier this year, I have gotten a part-time position working as a para-professional tutor at a middle school, working with students in the Special Education program. This is usually 2x a week. I work the other days as a substitute teacher.
I am planning to eventually becoming a full-time teacher! However, I will need to take more classes to get certified. I was considering taking the teacher ed program at UH, though most of the classes are daytime, which can be a scheduling conflict for those with full-time jobs. I am also considering the University of Phoenix, with a master's program that's more flexible for working adults. But it's not yet official.
3) Stuff I still haven't got around to
Back in high school, I wanted to learn how to drive. I did get my permit for those learning to drive.
However, I got distracted by other priorities. School, work, balancing my budgets.
Yep, 30 without a driver's license! People sometimes react to that with shock! It's like they never heard of it before!
I can still get around by bus, bike or walk. Plus, I never have to worry about parking :) I see people driving around the parking lot frustrated by the lack of parking space. Whereas for me, as soon as I get to the place, I just walk right in! :)
No need to worry about paying for gas, paying for car repairs, or paying for car insurance.
Though I do dream of driving around in a green 1964 Chevy Impala, with the hydraulics jumping, and the stereo blasting :) And driving friends and relatives around the island. Or just cruising Kapiolani Blvd or Kalakaua Ave at night with the stereos blasting!
---------
While I have traveled to Mexico, California and Las Vegas, it's been a while. Again, other priorities got in the way!
I do hope to be able to travel to places like Miami, New Orleans, El Paso, San Antonio, Austin, Atlanta! Also, check out all the historical monuments in Washington DC, and check out New York City. Check out Yellowstone, Yosemite, and go to Alaska
While I already visited Mexico, I also dream of visiting my other ancestral lands like Puerto Rico, Spain, Portugal and Germany. While I have a German last name, I don't look German, and I identify with it the least, due to the low exposure to that culture. Because of my last name, I got asked all these questions about German culture by this one immigrant Polish woman, and this one Filipina lady whose husband was stationed in Germany. I told them they had way more exposure to German culture than I did. I only got the last name!
Maybe after visiting my ancestral lands, I want to visit the ancestral lands of my classmates and students. That will mean the other Pacific Islands and Asia. Then I'll continue on to South America, Africa and the Middle East, and wherever else I forgot to mention.
4) Avoiding falling into ghetto stereotypes
I spent the first 14 years of my life in a public housing in Kalihi. While it's officially called "Puahala Homes", everyone just calls it "Lanakila Housing" due to being near a school, park and an avenue all named Lanakila! While it's not as well known, and not as dangerous as other housing complexes like Kuhio Park Terrace, Mayor Wright's Housing or Kalhi Valley Home (aka Kam IV), it is definitely not a quiet suburb!
Even my family circumstances had its own challenges. My mother grew up in the same neighborhood and was a teen parent. My father was an immigrant from Mexico. My father likes to drink beer, and while drunk, is uncontrollable. My mother, while peaceful, loving and caring, doesn't always notice problems until they get too big to ignore.
The stereotype of people who grow up in those circumstances are "they end up being high school dropouts, become alcoholics and drug addicts, they end up living the life of crime and spend prison time, and they become parents while still teenagers".
I sure didn't fit those stereotypes!
I really believe that my success in avoiding these problems growing up was because I usually thought about the long-term. I always thought that doing the right things can open doors in the future.
However, too many kids think in the short-term. They think "homework too hard, why bother". They think "I gotta cut class, smoke and drink to fit in." That is short-term thinking, and THAT is what get kids into trouble.
I mean, I know kids who had more than enough intelligence to do well in school and in life, but were so Short-Term Oriented that they ruined their potential by cutting class, smoking, drinking, and getting involved in the gang life! Very heart-breaking!
As for me, fitting in wasn't a big priority. Even if all the other kids didn't do their homework, I still did mine. Ask anyone in my 9th grade science class if you think I'm exaggerating about all the other kids in class not doing homework.
And I have never cutted class. Sure, some classes have teachers and classmates who weren't ideal! I was thinking long-term! Just go to class, get the work done, get the grade! You can't get ideal situations all the time, so just bear with it!
-------
If you ever wonder why I refuse to drink alcoholic beverages, it's because I refuse to follow the same direction as my father. My father is usually friendly when sober, but gets very moody when drunk. I remember the trip to Mexico, where he raged at his own mother. My dad was drunk! I even remember my mom going to my grandma's home to call the cops on my dad! My dad was drunk! This was why me and my brothers don't drink alcoholic beverages. In fact, my dad is proud that I didn't inherit his bad habits!
Even hearing how the people in the housing act when they were drunk made me want to avoid alcohol! Hearing people making noise late at night, and hearing domestic disputes from nearby residents made me want to remain abstinent from alcohol for life!
Also, everything I heard from guest speakers at school and stuff I read about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs is more than enough to convince me that it's not good to try those things. Pretty much every kid hears those lessons in school! Unfortunately, in too many cases, when those kids grow up, they give in to peer pressure, in a desperate attempt to fit in! However, some things are more important to me than fitting in!
Plus, alcohol smells bad, and I don't even understand why people need to get drunk to have fun. You don't need alcohol to enjoy a sports game, a party, or whatever else!
-----------
The other risks in growing up in the ghettoes include gang involvement and being a teen parent.
I wasn't hard enough to even be recruited by any gang. Maybe that was a good thing! Plus, all the stories I heard about what goes on in prison is more than enough to scare me from getting involved in criminal activity.
Also, I also avoided being a teen parent, since when it comes to getting laid, I just didn't try hard enough! LOL! Maybe that's a good thing too!
5) From the Hood to the Suburbs
When I was 14, my parents had to move out of Lanakila Housing, because their income was over the limit. After all, that complex was made for "low-income people" and my parent's income was no longer "low".
Well, they wanted to "buy" a house. But just like most cases of "buying a house", the bank bought the house for them, on the condition they make monthly payments. While "buying a house" sounds great, being locked into those mortgages makes your life less flexible, especially if your life in the new location doesn't work out!
Well, my parents "bought" a house in one of those suburbs in the western half of Oahu! I HATED IT!
I don't care if the grass was greener, things look nicer, blah, blah, blah! That stuff is meaningless!
Ideally, a kid grows up in the same neighborhood, growing up with the same friends, going to the same school as their peers. This type of consistency is WAY MORE IMPORTANT than green grass, nice scenery, and all that other stuff.
My grandma still lived in the housing, so I stayed there part-time, and used her address so I could attend the same schools as my childhood peers! However, my parents made me stay in their suburban home for the weekends! That was a problem for me!
At age 14, that is when a boy is in process of becoming a man. And yes, there was pressure from peers, my brothers and father to toughen up! Yet, what did my parents do when I was 14? Make me move to a suburb, which is the most emasculating environment known to humanity! That environments sucks all the masculinity out of you, especially when you need it the most.
Also at age 14 is usually when kids are allowed to roam their neighborhoods by themselves. While other kids probably do that earlier, my mom was a bit over-protective on that! I don't blame her, since it was a rough environment. But just as I was ready to be more adventurous in exploring the hood on my own, my parents moved me to the suburbs! Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about that!
Plus, being in the suburbs meant being in the middle of nowhere! There's nothing there! At least in Honolulu, you get easy access to Ala Moana, downtown, Kapiolani Boulevard, Waikiki, and all the other places teens loved to go! Better for me to stay in the inner-city ghetto and have access to those things, than to be stuck in a suburb.
Also, using my grandma's address for school papers can be a problem, because eventually people find out I wasn't living there full-time, and you never know who might snitch to DOE authorities who may be vigilant about students using their real address!
It got to that point where I just couldn't take being in my parent's suburban house! I wanted to move back to urban Honolulu, even if it's in the hood! Going through the emotions described in the previous paragraphs got me to the point where I got into the biggest rage of my life! I punched some big pillows with full rage right in front of my mom and she was terrified! She was in tears! She could no longer handle dealing with this issue, and she called my grandma to let me live with her full-time. Yep, I went back to the hood and stayed with my grandma full-time, which was what should've happened in the first place.
My parents should've just moved to Liliha, Kukui's, downtown, or Keeaumoku. No need to worry about "housing income limits", no need to worry about being evasive about the address, no need to worry about being separated from childhood peers, no need to worry about being away from places people my age loved to go to!
6) Single 4 Life?
On my mother's side of the family, I got 6 uncles. 2 of them are fathers. 4 of them are what I call "single for life"
I think I'm going in the direction of "Single 4 life" just like my 4 uncles.
I like living alone! I can have noise when I want and I can have quiet when I want!
I'm one of those people who can go days without socializing with others. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT hiding from the world! If you want to contact me, I'm EASY to find online! It's just that I like to have some quiet time to myself! I don't need to be around large groups of people all the time!
I do occasionally spend time with friends and family, but not everyday. In fact, since today's my birthday, I'll having a karaoke party with them, and plan to hit the clubs later in the night! I do love occasionally going to big events with tons of people there!
I also love facebook, where it's easy to contact others I haven't seen in a long time. So far, I got 250+ on my list, all people I have met through my 3 decades of life! And I appreciate every one of them for continuing to stay in my life!
For more things I love about being on facebook, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-year-on-facebook.html
As for marriage and kids, I'm not in that direction yet. I'm not much into dating, though I do occasionally love to hit the clubs and dance with the ladies at times :) I'm just not interested in a long-term relationship for now!
I'm not ready for parenthood yet, and I want to be able to plan when I'm having kids.
Too many people make kids when they're not even ready to have kids. Some people are so short-term oriented that they have unprotected sex and end up having kids they're not ready to take care of!
Some people do become good parents, even if they were totally unprepared parents in the beginning! Even those who were teen parents can become great parents. But too many people shouldn't become parents due to their attitude and immaturity! Those people should just use birth control or just stick with the dry humping!
Too many people act like they're shocked when someone says "I don't want to have kids". You should be happy when some people say "I don't want to have kids"! Some people shouldn't be having kids, and we shouldn't pressure them! The kids suffer when they're made by unprepared parents.
7) Conclusion
If you could make it through the end of this blog post, congratulations. I know it is long, and not everyone has the patience to read long pieces of writing!
But yeah, that is what my first 3 decades of life was like! Now it's time for a new phase of life!
New problems, new stress factors! But also new blessings, new things to learn, new exciting things to experiences, new people that will enrich my life for the better! And a new generation to share all my life lessons with!
Even with all those challenges I faced, I still believe you can't be mad at the world all the time! Yeah, I get mad at stuff, but you gotta enjoy the lighter side of life too! Even the Haitian earthquake victims found time during the recovery to play soccer and dance to music. Chances are the rescued Chilean miners will soon do so too. I known war veterans who survived IED explosions come home and dance during reunions. You can't be a 24-7 victim. Sooner or later, you just gotta put your problems on the side, and do something fun once in a while!
While I'm not part of an organized religion, I believe God is looking out for me. While the devil gets in the way at times, I believe God will help me through the crazy times!
I will enjoy this night, and I hope I will have more decades to celebrate!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Coming soon
2 more days until I hit 30! I'm already working on a draft for a blog that I'll post on my 30th birthday! It will be a mix of life lessons I learned, and a descriptions of major events of my life! I will also reveal information that even some of my friends and relatives didn't know about me! It will be a classic!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Hawaii's Primary results
[note: I completed this post on 9/22/10, but because I started workin on it on 9/20/10, the Blogger system says this was written "Monday, September 20, 2010". If anyone knows how to change those settings, let me know]
Last week Saturday (9/18/2010), Hawaii had it's primary elections.
That's when people chose who should be their favored political party's candidates! They also had non-partisan elections for Honolulu mayor, prosecutor, and state Board of Education!
The General Election will be on November 2, 2010. That will be when the people will make the final choice for who will be the next governor, as well as state and federal representatives.
1) The Mayor's Election
Because Mufi Hanneman wanted to run for governor (which I'll discuss later), he had to resign from the mayor's office, and a special election had to be held for the Honolulu's mayor's office!
http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2010/primary/files/cch.pdf
Former special prosecutor Peter Carlisle won the winner-take-all election, with 38.8% of the vote! Kirk Caldwell (who was Hanneman's assistant as "managing director) was 2nd place with 34.6% of the vote!
My favored candidate Panos Prevedorous, the only major candidate opposing the rail project, got 18.5%
For my reason opposing the rail project, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/light-rail-and-property-confiscation.html
And the GREATEST NEWS from this mayoral election?
Former City Council member Rod Tam only got 1.5% of the vote!
Tam was very well known for all the wrong reasons.
The most infamous one was back in 2008, during a city council meeting on the construction of the UH-West Oahu campus, Tam said he didn't want "wetbacks" working on the project!
After angry protests, Tam with his usual evasiveness, claimed he didn't know "wetbacks" was an insulting term towards Mexicans, and claimed he was just opposed to "illegal aliens" working on the construction project!
Nevermind, that his district (downtown, Chinatown, Liliha, Nuuanu) has WAY MORE Asian immigrants than Latin Americans! Hawaii, in general, has way more Asian immigrants than Latin American immigrants, but especially Tam's district, which is the center of Chinese culture in Hawaii!
For more general info on that controversy, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-editorial-on-rod-tam.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/who-youre-calling-wetback-rod-tam.html
--
Later, Tam had another controversy relating to ethnic issues! In his quest to ban people from riding the bus if they "smell stink", Tam had this to say
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-09-02-honolulu-bus-odor_N.htm
"As we become more inundated with people from all over the world, their way of taking care of their health is different. Some people, quite frankly, do not take a bath every day and therefore they may be offensive in terms of their odor."
Pay attention to what I highlighted in orange. Rod Tam is blaming immigrants for "bad odor" on the bus! Rod Tam is basically calling immigrants (though he didn't mention a specific ethnic group) "dirty" and "stink"
Rod Tam thinks he could get away with insulting minority ethnic groups and still get elected to the mayor's office!
Rod Tam thinks he could get away with referring to Mexicans as "wetbacks" since the Mexican population in Hawaii is small!
But when Rod Tam used the word"wetbacks", he didn't just make the small Mexican population (and other Latinos) upset!
He also pissed off many Asians, Pacific Islanders and European-Americans in Hawaii, who are offended when ANY ethnic group gets discriminated against!
That's right, there's MORE THAN ENOUGH Asians, Pacific Islanders and European-Americans who weren't happy with Rod Tam using racially divisive words, even if it's not referring to their own ethnic group!! MORE THAN ENOUGH of them got tired of Rod Tam's crap and chose other candidates for mayor!
Good riddance to Rod Tam!
2) The Democratic Primary Election for Governor
The 2 major candidates running for the chance to represent the Democratic party in the governor's race were Mufi Hanneman (former Honolulu mayor) and Neil Abercrombie (former US House representative).
Hannemann and Abercrombie ran against each other for the Democratic ticket for the US House seat back in 1986. While Hannemann won the chance to represent the Democrats that year, he end up loosing to Republican candidate Pat Saiki!
This was the re-match, though this time for governor!
Mufi Hannemann started off making some strong points against Abercrombie! Hannemann emphasized that Abercrombie didn't have executive experience and hadn't held a private sector job in 40 years.
However, those strong points got diluted on July 17, 2010 when Hannemann and Abercrombie made an appearance at a forum for the Hawaii Carpenter's Union
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20100718_Gubernatorial_rivals_court_carpenters_union.html
Hannemann told carpenters they deserve a candidate they can relate to, who shares their values, and who identifies with working-class families. The mayor, who is of Samoan and German ancestry and grew up in Kalihi, did not mention Abercrombie's background, but his remarks drew a contrast with the white, Buffalo, N.Y.-born former congressman.
"I can identify with you," Hannemann said. "When I look in the audience, I look like you, you look like me. Is that a right thing to say? And even for our Caucasian brothers in the audience, I'm local to the max. My last name is Hannemann. That's German. My middle name is Francis. English. So I'm Samoan-German-English, born and raised in Hawaii, and married to a katonk, a Japanese-American woman.
Again, look what I highlighted in orange. "I look like you, you look like me"? We sure as hell aren't talking about height, since Hannemann is almost a foot taller than the average man!
It sounds like Mufi Hannemann is telling the members of the Hawaii's Carpenter's Union (many of whom are Polynesians or Filipinos) "hey, vote for me since I'm as brown as you guys".
Some have said that Hannemann is trying to tell the audience "vote for me, not that haole boy Abercrombie"! Of course, Hannemann would be quick to point out he's part-German, even though emphasizes his part-Samoan side WAY MORE OFTEN!
Either way, he shouldn't have emphasized this "I look like you, you look like me" stuff! Who cares what you look like? This emphasis on "I look like you, you look like me" insulted our intelligence and have caused Hannemann to lose many supporters, even those who "looked like him"!
--
Also, weeks before the election, it turned out many residential property owners who lived near "industrial areas" had their property tax dramatically increased. Since it's the city & county that collects property taxes, and the mayor is in charge of the city, it's Hannemann's fault!
An article from Hawaii Free Press on the issue
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2825/Hannemannrsquos-property-tax-hike-forces-eviction-of-Kalihi-nonprofits.aspx
Among the tenants being forced out are the Hawaiian Hope computer literacy center and several other non-profit groups at 611 N. King St. Under the newly enforced tax assessment rules, the affordably-priced storefront space they had been using on the ground floor of a four story apartment building triggers a reclassification of the entire building at the much higher commercial property tax rates. The difference-$40,000 per year in new taxes—makes continuing with the commercial space unrealistic for the landlord. The groups are ordered to vacate by September 15.
That’s not all. According to Curtis Kropar, Executive Director of Hawaiian Hope, “Notices found hanging in the building announce to residents that rent will be going up for all of the 400 low income apartments unless something else is done about it.”
Nonprofit leaders say it will be difficult for them to find commercial space priced comparably to the $1 per square foot they had been paying.
The tax changes are part of a package which became controversial when low-income Kalihi homeowners suddenly found themselves owing $13,000 in annual property taxes because the city chose to reassess their homes based on the industrial zoning of the property they sit upon rather than its residential use.
Even more damaging to Hannemann, a large number of those victimized by Hannemann's property tax increase live in Kalihi, where Hannemann could say "I look like you, you look like me". But if your property taxes has dramatically increased to the point you might go bankrupt, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE MAYOR LOOKS LIKE! He could look like you, and you still want to vote him out!
And that's exactly what happened to Hannemann! It's over for him!
3) Democrat Nominee for Lieutenant Governor
In a crowded race for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor, filled with legislators like Bobby Bunda, Norman Sakamoto, Lyla Berg, Gary Hooser .......... Brian Schatz came out on top!
Schatz is a relatively young and charismatic guy. Easy-going, nice guy. Seems to be filled with compassion! The type of guy you would want to have as a son! The type of guy you want your daughter to marry!
Well, I remember a few years back, when he used to write for the Honolulu Weekly. This one editorial he wrote had 5 ideas, 2 of them very ridiculous!
http://honoluluweekly.com/diary/2007/12/high-five-2/
Schatz wanted to ban plastic bags and wanted to restrict public self-storage facilities!
Here's why I HATE the idea of banning plastic bags!
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/01/17/editorial/letters.html (my letter was on the top!)
And if you got stuff you want to keep, but don't have the room for, you would love public self-storage facilities, they same one Schatz wants to get rid of!
If the Republicans find out about what Schatz wants do about plastic bags and public self-storage facilities, they could easily ridicule him as an "out of touch, far-left elitist"! If more people found about those Schatz proposals, they would think twice about voting for him!
4) The Republicans
James "Duke" Aiona and Lynn Finnegan had an easy time getting their party's nomination for governor & lieutenant governor! Charles Djou also easily got his party nomination for the US House seat
Since the 1950's, the Republicans had a hard time winning major elections in Hawaii. Sure, some of the candidates won a few elections (ie. Pat Saiki, Frank Fasi) but Democrats won way more often. In the late 1990's, when Hawaii was trailing the other US states economically, people were willing to give the Republicans a 2nd look. Linda Lingle, a moderate Republican, was able to get the votes of many of those who usually vote Democrat! While Lingle lost a close one in 1998, she got elected governor in 2002 & 2006!
Now that Lingle's time is up, the question remains! Is the Republican Party really rising, or will the voters go back to voting Democrats as usual!
On the continental US, the conservative Republicans got the momentum right now! After the Hope & Change promised by Barack Obama, the recession is still on-going. People are worried that the Democrat policies would lead to more taxes, over-regulation and bureaucratic red tape!
But here in Hawaii, Obama is still popular. Here, he's "the Punahou grad", "the guy who surfs at Sandy's", and off course, "the first minority president". Preaching anger at Obama will NOT work in Hawaii!
Being that Aiona is Native Hawaiian, and Finnegan is Filipina, no one can call the Hawaii Republicans "the haole party". Hannemann couldn't use the "I look you, you look like me" stuff because Aiona & Finnegan also "look like a lot of voters". I even go as far as saying Aiona & Finnegan look MORE like the average local person, since they're not a foot taller than them!
While even in Hawaii, European-Americans are still more likely to vote Republicans than other groups, even many Asians and Pacific Islanders agree with the Republicans on taxes, business, civil unions, education and moral issues. But the question remains - would that be enough for the Republicans to win the governor's seat!
Also having Aiona & Finnegan run on for governor is good P.R. for the Republicans in the rest of the US!
Some Republicans this year are emphasizing the fear of Muslims and making phony rumors of Mexican illegal aliens beheading people (ie. Jan Brewer of Arizona)! That doesn't look good for the long-term health of the Republicans since the non-white population of the US is growing!
However, Democrats aren't immune from prejudice either, especially the already mentioned examples of Rod Tam and Mufi Hannemann. If any white Republican said what those 2 guys said, there would be articles about them on http://www.thenation.com/ or http://www.salon.com/ . But since they're Democrats, the liberals on the continent pretty much ignored their idiotic statements!
The Republicans need to have high profile people like Duke Aiona, Lynne Finnegan, Bobby Jindal (governor of Louisiana) or Nikki Hailey (running for South Carolina governor)! They need to make in-roads with the non-white populations. Those non-white politicians sure as hell not liberals, and not every non-white is a far-left liberal.
Republicans nationwide need to distance themselves from the anti-immigration crowd, no matter how noisy they are! If Aiona & Finnegan win in Hawaii, it will be a sign that Republicans could make in-roads with the growing non-white audiences elsewhere!
Last week Saturday (9/18/2010), Hawaii had it's primary elections.
That's when people chose who should be their favored political party's candidates! They also had non-partisan elections for Honolulu mayor, prosecutor, and state Board of Education!
The General Election will be on November 2, 2010. That will be when the people will make the final choice for who will be the next governor, as well as state and federal representatives.
1) The Mayor's Election
Because Mufi Hanneman wanted to run for governor (which I'll discuss later), he had to resign from the mayor's office, and a special election had to be held for the Honolulu's mayor's office!
http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2010/primary/files/cch.pdf
Former special prosecutor Peter Carlisle won the winner-take-all election, with 38.8% of the vote! Kirk Caldwell (who was Hanneman's assistant as "managing director) was 2nd place with 34.6% of the vote!
My favored candidate Panos Prevedorous, the only major candidate opposing the rail project, got 18.5%
For my reason opposing the rail project, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/light-rail-and-property-confiscation.html
And the GREATEST NEWS from this mayoral election?
Former City Council member Rod Tam only got 1.5% of the vote!
Tam was very well known for all the wrong reasons.
The most infamous one was back in 2008, during a city council meeting on the construction of the UH-West Oahu campus, Tam said he didn't want "wetbacks" working on the project!
After angry protests, Tam with his usual evasiveness, claimed he didn't know "wetbacks" was an insulting term towards Mexicans, and claimed he was just opposed to "illegal aliens" working on the construction project!
Nevermind, that his district (downtown, Chinatown, Liliha, Nuuanu) has WAY MORE Asian immigrants than Latin Americans! Hawaii, in general, has way more Asian immigrants than Latin American immigrants, but especially Tam's district, which is the center of Chinese culture in Hawaii!
For more general info on that controversy, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-editorial-on-rod-tam.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/who-youre-calling-wetback-rod-tam.html
--
Later, Tam had another controversy relating to ethnic issues! In his quest to ban people from riding the bus if they "smell stink", Tam had this to say
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-09-02-honolulu-bus-odor_N.htm
"As we become more inundated with people from all over the world, their way of taking care of their health is different. Some people, quite frankly, do not take a bath every day and therefore they may be offensive in terms of their odor."
Pay attention to what I highlighted in orange. Rod Tam is blaming immigrants for "bad odor" on the bus! Rod Tam is basically calling immigrants (though he didn't mention a specific ethnic group) "dirty" and "stink"
Rod Tam thinks he could get away with insulting minority ethnic groups and still get elected to the mayor's office!
Rod Tam thinks he could get away with referring to Mexicans as "wetbacks" since the Mexican population in Hawaii is small!
But when Rod Tam used the word"wetbacks", he didn't just make the small Mexican population (and other Latinos) upset!
He also pissed off many Asians, Pacific Islanders and European-Americans in Hawaii, who are offended when ANY ethnic group gets discriminated against!
That's right, there's MORE THAN ENOUGH Asians, Pacific Islanders and European-Americans who weren't happy with Rod Tam using racially divisive words, even if it's not referring to their own ethnic group!! MORE THAN ENOUGH of them got tired of Rod Tam's crap and chose other candidates for mayor!
Good riddance to Rod Tam!
2) The Democratic Primary Election for Governor
The 2 major candidates running for the chance to represent the Democratic party in the governor's race were Mufi Hanneman (former Honolulu mayor) and Neil Abercrombie (former US House representative).
Hannemann and Abercrombie ran against each other for the Democratic ticket for the US House seat back in 1986. While Hannemann won the chance to represent the Democrats that year, he end up loosing to Republican candidate Pat Saiki!
This was the re-match, though this time for governor!
Mufi Hannemann started off making some strong points against Abercrombie! Hannemann emphasized that Abercrombie didn't have executive experience and hadn't held a private sector job in 40 years.
However, those strong points got diluted on July 17, 2010 when Hannemann and Abercrombie made an appearance at a forum for the Hawaii Carpenter's Union
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20100718_Gubernatorial_rivals_court_carpenters_union.html
Hannemann told carpenters they deserve a candidate they can relate to, who shares their values, and who identifies with working-class families. The mayor, who is of Samoan and German ancestry and grew up in Kalihi, did not mention Abercrombie's background, but his remarks drew a contrast with the white, Buffalo, N.Y.-born former congressman.
"I can identify with you," Hannemann said. "When I look in the audience, I look like you, you look like me. Is that a right thing to say? And even for our Caucasian brothers in the audience, I'm local to the max. My last name is Hannemann. That's German. My middle name is Francis. English. So I'm Samoan-German-English, born and raised in Hawaii, and married to a katonk, a Japanese-American woman.
Again, look what I highlighted in orange. "I look like you, you look like me"? We sure as hell aren't talking about height, since Hannemann is almost a foot taller than the average man!
It sounds like Mufi Hannemann is telling the members of the Hawaii's Carpenter's Union (many of whom are Polynesians or Filipinos) "hey, vote for me since I'm as brown as you guys".
Some have said that Hannemann is trying to tell the audience "vote for me, not that haole boy Abercrombie"! Of course, Hannemann would be quick to point out he's part-German, even though emphasizes his part-Samoan side WAY MORE OFTEN!
Either way, he shouldn't have emphasized this "I look like you, you look like me" stuff! Who cares what you look like? This emphasis on "I look like you, you look like me" insulted our intelligence and have caused Hannemann to lose many supporters, even those who "looked like him"!
--
Also, weeks before the election, it turned out many residential property owners who lived near "industrial areas" had their property tax dramatically increased. Since it's the city & county that collects property taxes, and the mayor is in charge of the city, it's Hannemann's fault!
An article from Hawaii Free Press on the issue
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2825/Hannemannrsquos-property-tax-hike-forces-eviction-of-Kalihi-nonprofits.aspx
Among the tenants being forced out are the Hawaiian Hope computer literacy center and several other non-profit groups at 611 N. King St. Under the newly enforced tax assessment rules, the affordably-priced storefront space they had been using on the ground floor of a four story apartment building triggers a reclassification of the entire building at the much higher commercial property tax rates. The difference-$40,000 per year in new taxes—makes continuing with the commercial space unrealistic for the landlord. The groups are ordered to vacate by September 15.
That’s not all. According to Curtis Kropar, Executive Director of Hawaiian Hope, “Notices found hanging in the building announce to residents that rent will be going up for all of the 400 low income apartments unless something else is done about it.”
Nonprofit leaders say it will be difficult for them to find commercial space priced comparably to the $1 per square foot they had been paying.
The tax changes are part of a package which became controversial when low-income Kalihi homeowners suddenly found themselves owing $13,000 in annual property taxes because the city chose to reassess their homes based on the industrial zoning of the property they sit upon rather than its residential use.
Even more damaging to Hannemann, a large number of those victimized by Hannemann's property tax increase live in Kalihi, where Hannemann could say "I look like you, you look like me". But if your property taxes has dramatically increased to the point you might go bankrupt, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE MAYOR LOOKS LIKE! He could look like you, and you still want to vote him out!
And that's exactly what happened to Hannemann! It's over for him!
3) Democrat Nominee for Lieutenant Governor
In a crowded race for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor, filled with legislators like Bobby Bunda, Norman Sakamoto, Lyla Berg, Gary Hooser .......... Brian Schatz came out on top!
Schatz is a relatively young and charismatic guy. Easy-going, nice guy. Seems to be filled with compassion! The type of guy you would want to have as a son! The type of guy you want your daughter to marry!
Well, I remember a few years back, when he used to write for the Honolulu Weekly. This one editorial he wrote had 5 ideas, 2 of them very ridiculous!
http://honoluluweekly.com/diary/2007/12/high-five-2/
Schatz wanted to ban plastic bags and wanted to restrict public self-storage facilities!
Here's why I HATE the idea of banning plastic bags!
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/01/17/editorial/letters.html (my letter was on the top!)
And if you got stuff you want to keep, but don't have the room for, you would love public self-storage facilities, they same one Schatz wants to get rid of!
If the Republicans find out about what Schatz wants do about plastic bags and public self-storage facilities, they could easily ridicule him as an "out of touch, far-left elitist"! If more people found about those Schatz proposals, they would think twice about voting for him!
4) The Republicans
James "Duke" Aiona and Lynn Finnegan had an easy time getting their party's nomination for governor & lieutenant governor! Charles Djou also easily got his party nomination for the US House seat
Since the 1950's, the Republicans had a hard time winning major elections in Hawaii. Sure, some of the candidates won a few elections (ie. Pat Saiki, Frank Fasi) but Democrats won way more often. In the late 1990's, when Hawaii was trailing the other US states economically, people were willing to give the Republicans a 2nd look. Linda Lingle, a moderate Republican, was able to get the votes of many of those who usually vote Democrat! While Lingle lost a close one in 1998, she got elected governor in 2002 & 2006!
Now that Lingle's time is up, the question remains! Is the Republican Party really rising, or will the voters go back to voting Democrats as usual!
On the continental US, the conservative Republicans got the momentum right now! After the Hope & Change promised by Barack Obama, the recession is still on-going. People are worried that the Democrat policies would lead to more taxes, over-regulation and bureaucratic red tape!
But here in Hawaii, Obama is still popular. Here, he's "the Punahou grad", "the guy who surfs at Sandy's", and off course, "the first minority president". Preaching anger at Obama will NOT work in Hawaii!
Being that Aiona is Native Hawaiian, and Finnegan is Filipina, no one can call the Hawaii Republicans "the haole party". Hannemann couldn't use the "I look you, you look like me" stuff because Aiona & Finnegan also "look like a lot of voters". I even go as far as saying Aiona & Finnegan look MORE like the average local person, since they're not a foot taller than them!
While even in Hawaii, European-Americans are still more likely to vote Republicans than other groups, even many Asians and Pacific Islanders agree with the Republicans on taxes, business, civil unions, education and moral issues. But the question remains - would that be enough for the Republicans to win the governor's seat!
Also having Aiona & Finnegan run on for governor is good P.R. for the Republicans in the rest of the US!
Some Republicans this year are emphasizing the fear of Muslims and making phony rumors of Mexican illegal aliens beheading people (ie. Jan Brewer of Arizona)! That doesn't look good for the long-term health of the Republicans since the non-white population of the US is growing!
However, Democrats aren't immune from prejudice either, especially the already mentioned examples of Rod Tam and Mufi Hannemann. If any white Republican said what those 2 guys said, there would be articles about them on http://www.thenation.com/ or http://www.salon.com/ . But since they're Democrats, the liberals on the continent pretty much ignored their idiotic statements!
The Republicans need to have high profile people like Duke Aiona, Lynne Finnegan, Bobby Jindal (governor of Louisiana) or Nikki Hailey (running for South Carolina governor)! They need to make in-roads with the non-white populations. Those non-white politicians sure as hell not liberals, and not every non-white is a far-left liberal.
Republicans nationwide need to distance themselves from the anti-immigration crowd, no matter how noisy they are! If Aiona & Finnegan win in Hawaii, it will be a sign that Republicans could make in-roads with the growing non-white audiences elsewhere!
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