During eighteen months at the University of Hawaii preparing to teach English in China by means of a course called English as a Second Language (ESL) I learned more about the nuclear tight wire upon which we all live. One evening in 1980 a military officer in Honolulu visited our small group of friends and [...]
As New York City prepares for a global climate gathering on September 20th, it is our timely moment to recall on September 30. 2013 Hawaii became the first sub-national government to sign on to the Majuro Declaration. The Majuro statement flowed from island nations now threatened by climate change and a rising ocean. Hawaii is [...]
In 2014 there are possibly 100,000 people who are 100 years old. When Roselyn’s mother Eunice Hebert, a widow, reached 100 I told her, “You are the best mother-in-law I ever had.” Still lucid at 100, she asked, “How many such mothers – in-law have you had?” When Mrs. Hebert turned 107 in September, one [...]
Seekers of truth watched DEMOCRACY NOW with Amy Goodman on the day after “9/11” which featured two co-workers of US journalists who were beheaded in the endless Persian Gulf slaughter. Both guests told Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez the two victims would be angry over the decision by Mr. Obama to beat emotional war drums [...]
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) said, “The foundation of mental illness is our unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering.” Dr. Scott Peck began his book The Road Less Travelled with a simple truth: “Life is difficult.” During the 1970’s I discovered thousands of people who were squatting (illegally) on the ground or 30,000 on rooftops among Hong [...]
NASA scientist James Hansen was the first government official with the knowledge and courage to appear before Congress in June 1988 and declare “Global warming is a reality.” Being first among his peers was good for Hansen’s biography. Prophets throughout history along with Hansen have been vilified and rejected. Many were killed. Hansen is courageous [...]
Jim Douglas was a teacher at the University of Hawaii in the 1960’S AND 1970’s. He is the author of JFK and the Unspeakable. It was my privilege to have carefully read Jim’s book as a signed gift from a historian and biblical “peacemaker.” Jim Albertini continues as a peacemaker in Hawaii. When filmmaker Oliver [...]
