|
8 . 3 1 . 0 4 Watching the RNC, have to say that it is a good show. It was really choreographed to let the compassionate conservatives pat themselves on their backs for all the nice things they've done to the poor and unfortunate Americans and world community. Funny, the impression that I've gotten over the years is that that is pretty far from what an accurate depiction might be. In general, my take on Republicans are that they are essentially elitists, politically, morally, socially, racially, and intellectually. This is not a blanket judgement call of course, just that I don't think that elitists should be entrusted with the charge of providing for the the greater good of the country and the population. If you think you're better than everyone else around you (for whatever reason), thats fine, just stay in your private sector job, your suburban enclave, mind your own business. Just don't meddle in affairs and policies that will adversely affect millions other Americans who don't have the means or the connections to speak up for themselves. The threat of the elite is not limited to America. Given America's economic and military power the leadership of this country also determines the fate of most of the world as well, even more reason why I don't think elitists should be entrusted with the good of the world either. They seem to care even less about foreigners and people who don't speak English. The convention has a very intense tone, as if the party is straining to put on a pretty face, prove to the undecided voters that they are really the party of the people. It is blatant how the cameras are struggling to find a non-haole face in the crowds, and they tend to revisit the tanned faces several times, perhaps due to the overall lack of color in the crowd. Of course there was some comic relief in the form of the Bush twins. I guess the compassionate conservative is back in gear for the election. one good point brought up by John Batchelor on the Washington Journal is that the Republicans are showcasing their presidential candidates for 2008. Arnold, Guilliani, McCain, Pataki. I have to say that they are totally out of the direction that the current administration is pushing the country, but I wouldn't write them off as not being Republican. I will say that the amount of exploit that many of the main speakers did for the memory and tragedy of 9-11 left a bitter taste in my mouth. I remember after 9-11 being very impressed at the leadership and strength of Guilliani, and being surprised by the pro-war rhetoric that he pushes forward now. McCain too, I was surprised on his statements in his speech, even when he has repeatedly been critical of the war and reconstruction blunders. This bugs me especially since I've told people repeatedly in the past, that I might've voted McCain in 2000, definitely in 2008 if its against Hillary. of course, its all rhetoric, thats what conventions are for. Song in my head: Morgan Heritage "She's still loving me" - listened to it on some Winamp internet radio station. pretty cool. I set the query to 10,000 and found a bunch of good streams. African reggae, Mountain Apple Hawaiian music, roots dub, some crazy jazz and some other stuff. I stumbled across a link for KTUH, listened to a couple hours of some good reggae, even with the 6 hour time difference. Reminded me of the old HCMP days. Made some more Rafute tonight, it was a pretty long endeavor, about 2-3 hours I'm thinking. Good excuse to sample some Awamori and crack open a couple Sapporo on a weeknight though. Cooking it really takes some patience and dedication. But when its all done, Its totally worth it. 8 . 2 5 . 0 4 More on the internment book, I'm seeing a mountain of counterpoints to the author's thesis, and not much of an organized and intelligent rebuttal. She has now come to claiming a victim stance against a bunch of liberal bullies, claiming that they are attacking her with some of the similar tactics that she uses in her own columns against people whom she disagrees with. I'm still scratching my head to whether she really thinks that she has a good arguement in place or she is just in a defensive posture. Reading some of her responses to critiques of her book, it seemed to me that she can't even process the points in her own head. Strange place to be, for someone who is trying to re-write history, or "correct the record" as she puts it. Bush and Kerry are duking it out over who was more of a rambo during Vietnam. My thoughts are that its all pretty ridiculous really, I can't see how someone who served in the Air National guard state-side can critisize the one who actually saw real combat about whose service was more honorable. Of course neither is really critisizing the other up front, both are hiding behind these 527 PAC groups. Its all a big fucking distraction from the issues at hand. While Bush is a total hypocrite for letting this go on and on like this, I think Kerry was also a douchebag for trying to harp up his Vietnam service during the DNC. During the primary in which the DNC screwed Dean, I got into conversations with people pointing out that Kerry's anti-war stance could be a liability if he won the primary. Simply put, you can't come home from the war and become anti-war without expecting to piss people off. It should've been a red flag to the DNC that the Republicans would be shooting for that once the campaign started. I care more about the current war on Terror and how our next president-elect will be resolving the mess in Iraq than who got a what medal when and how 35 years ago. All this anger and hurt over Vietnam. People calling Inouye's office complaining that he signed on with Max Cleland's letter to Bush which he tried to deliver to his ranch in Crawford TX today. People don't seem to see any the connection to what we are headed towards today. One of our freedoms is to be loud, self-righteous and historically ignorant. One glaring observation about the past 4 years is that society seems to give credibility to people not on the substance of their arguements, but the strength of their convictions. Had a training course today about ethics and working for the government. Some interesting discussion about the definition of morality and ethical behavior no doubt. It totally reminded me of this Bio-ethics class I took back as an undergrad, irony of that was that the professor himself conducted himeself rather unethically. I guess the answer to what is ethical really comes down to the situation, which is what the instructor said today. On the side I jotted down my own attempt at trying to define ethics - its something that is easier to define it in the negative, as in what it is not. I approach it as conducting oneself in a way that does no harm, but also acknowledging without flinching our very existance has some negative impact on the environment, and society. The trick is to try and minimize the negative impact that we may have, and push forward towards a future of sustainability. And when it is made apparent that one's actions have had a negative effect, owe up to it and make a reasonable attempt to make up the difference. Too simplistic maybe for some, but its my 10 second crack at it. On a side note, some true blue observations about riding the metro. 8 . 1 9 . 0 4 Training is almost pau, I have to admit that it has been getting more and more interesting, useful and worthwhile as the days go by. I was originally worried that it would be something like the wave of training courses that I had last summer. I suppose at the time they weren't sure how many of us would be coming back as permenant employees, so thats why it was kind of lame. This time around is much more meaningful. Basically we've been working through a small mini-job with a policy team of about 6 new hires. We attended an engagement hearing, conducted some interviews, documentation, and have been developing writing sections. Tomorrow we'll hit the referencing section which is the section that I hear is everyone's favorite. yeah right. Learning some tips on organization conformity and interpersonal relations in small groups on the side as well. I guess I'm a bit of an observer as well. There's still a psychologist in me I suppose, I couldn't help but notice the social dynamics and personality traits interacting with each other. Myself included. There were also a series of cognitive exercises that I was familiar with. I guess its not all BS afterall. Another thought on that internment book. While the author argues that there is a liberal conspiracy corrupting Americans to being too PC when it comes to Japanese Internment, I wonder what she might say if a similar approach were taken towards Jews during the holocaust. Some of the Nazi propoganda justified that the labeling of Jewish citizens with stars of David, segregating them into ghettos, and liquidating them was in the best interest of the German Motherland. The Jews were scapegoated as the cause of economic struggles, and perhaps even caused Germany to lose WWI. To what extent did the average german citizen believed any this in the literal sense is debatable, but it gave the disgruntled masses someone to throw stones at. Once again, the Nazi propoganda told people what they wanted to hear - that the troubles, fears and hardship of the time had nothing to do with them, rather it was because of a select minority of the population. My point here is that politically charged rhetoric is different than rationally thought-out public policy, and trying to pass ideology as logical reasoning is dangerous. I'm still confused how this author can write any of this with a serious face. She seems to be really out of touch with her identity, doesn't consider herself Asian, or at very least doesn't seem to realize that she looks like a minority. Went to the Wolftrap national center for the performing arts last night to see the Brothers Cazamerio. It was a trip in itself seeing so many local transplants so far away from home. I saw a lot of young people that totally looked like they were from Hawaii, but were probably just kids of ex-pats. In the mix were a bunch of wannabee locals as well with their loud aloha shirts and bright fake flower leis. Part of me was nostalgic, part of me was a little worried that I might end up here a bit longer than I had originally planned for. I also made some observations on the lack of upcoming artists of similar caliber in terms of showmanship and raw musical talent. The brothers have very strong voices just rang throughout the ampitheater. Just the presence of the music and aura of the performance gave a calming sense of place, thousands of miles away. Goes to speak to the idea that culture is a fluid, living entity, and a key component of our identity and concept of the self. Hearing the slack key and steel guitar in the old style gave me chicken skin, brought back memories and think of the future. I'll have to head home someday, I'm sure. 8 . 1 5 . 0 4 More on the internment book. The author was on Real Time with Bill Maher last night. First impressions on the TV is that she has a kind of mean look to her, both in facial expression and tone of voice. They didn't focus on her book save one comment from Maher, in which she was very defensive, I almost wonder what she expects/or does she just like the attention. Lucky for her Maher actually agrees with the idea of looking at certain types of people more closely in the airport security lines, although I'd be very surprised if he'd agree with her in terms of internment, or that the Japanese internment was based on sound intel. Been digging up a bit of other blogger's commentary on the book, came up with some pretty good sites of commentary and response. I still have yet to find a pro-internment opinion that was really sound. I guess maybe the book is all a bunch of anti-Japanese rhetoric anyhow. Not planning on buying it, maybe just read some of it when I go to borders or something. I'm sure that it'll show up in a used bookstore later. Its strange how somebody can claim to be so patriotic and pro-american and then be so quick to demonize a group based on affiliation or religious belief. I guess they really don't value American freedoms, or maybe at the very least have a different view of what this country should be. 8 . 1 3 . 0 4 Friday the 13th and I'm in the office waiting out a storm. Hurricane Charley is down in Florida wrecking havoc along the coast. We've been getting hit by the remnants of the last big storm that passed by the area a couple days ago. There are also a bunch of other tropical depressions coming across the Atlantic towards the coast that might upgrade as well. Seeing all the doppler radar output and listening to the weather reports reminds me of Iniki, the last big hurricane to hit Hawaii back in 1991 (I think it was 9/11, kind of creepy). There is something about hearing about big storms that is intriguing and scary at the same time. I guess its been ingrained into my cultural identity to be wary of hurricanes. Meanwhile another storm of sorts, a right-wing journalist has released a book in defense of the Japanese internment - working off of similar conditions we have today of war-time hysteria and racism we see today. I've heard of this writer before, after reading some of her articles spouting mostly rhetoric I kind of just shrugged her off as a person who has some serious issues as aspiring to the an Asian Ann Coulter. But her recent book, the implications of her arguements, and her biased depiction of Hawaiian history to prove a point hits too close to home to ignore. Seems that she is using her ethnic background as an Asian-American, to give a sort of unspoken credibility to her arguement. Nevermind that a lot of haoles think that Filipinos are the same as Japanese all look the same whatever, some idiot on Amazon.com even posted that we should buy her book because she's asian. She falls in that category of minorities who benefit from the freedoms that America stands for, and then turn around and shut the door behind them. As for being an advocate for profiling Muslims in order to prevent terrorism, she herself could easily be mistaken for a South East Asian muslim, and could be targeted for the very profiling that she advocates. This might seem superficial judgement at first, but honestly the internment was based a lot on facial features. I remember seeing manuals published during the relocation for Americans to distinguish between chinese people and dirty japs based on differences in physical traits. Prior to defending the internment she's published op-eds in newspapers heralding probably one of the worst war movies that claimed historical accuracy, Pearl Harbor by attacking the Japanese empire with angry rhetoric, going as far as to mockingly suggest that Japanese think that they actually won the war. From what I have been able to gather about this author, is strikingly similar to Iris Chang, the author of a book on the Nanjing massacre - they both seem to harbor a deep sense of hatred and racism towards Japanese. As Asian females they cater to the unspoken prejudice of Americans, as they can hide behind the authors asian features and shake their heads silently with vindictive frowns that America can do no wrong. The author claims that her book uncovers unknown "truths" about the internment, that there were valid military and logical reasons for the policy, and that it was not based on racism or wartime hysteria. Her approach has all sorts of problems with it, by pointing to the legality (or constitutionality of Korematsu v US) of internment due to the fact that a large percentage of AJAs were not real "citizens", while disregarding the immigration laws at the time that limited naturalization of issei. One of the arguements in her book is that the concentration camps were not as bad as Nazi death camps, yet disregards that comparing Democratic America and Nazi Germany are like comparing apples and oranges, but both were driven by prejudice. She makes this claim by taking a historian's quote totally out of context - in reality the passage she cites alludes to the binding sorrow of those who died in the Nazi death camps and those who died in relocation camps both died behind barbed wire. The author points to the low rate of military enlishtment of AJA men from internment camps as proof of disloyaty, yet fails to put herself in the shoes of young Americans who were distrusted at first, singled out by race for evacuation and internment, and then asked to serve for a country that did not consider them equal citizens. She then goes on to minimize the struggles and sacrifices of the 100th and the 442nd, the MIS and the 1399th, suggesting that the 2001 upgrades of military awards were merely political pandering of liberal america reeling from collective guilt. Nevermind that several American statesmen, Republican, Democrat, and Independents have spoken against the internment as a dark stain on American history. Another article joined Ann Coulter in accusing Transportation Secretary Mineta of mishandling airport security because of his childhood experiences in a concentration camp, and that the reparations movement in more recent years was unfounded. The arguement seems prejudiced itself, I seriously doubt it would come up if Mineta was haole. She goes as far to claim that in expressing concern with the current administration's policies regarding Arab american detainees, Japanese Americans and Muslim Americans have united in undermining America's safety. Many of her findings grossly contradict with my own understanding (both academic and personal) of the Japanese relocation and internment. From the vets that I have talked, and their wives who lived through the internment, this author is grossly off base. I seriously question if she even bothered to talk to any of the survivors of the camps, and if she did, but still holds such a low regard for human suffering then she has got some serious issues. My concern is that by pursuing her own political agenda while hiding behind her Asian American ancestry she gives her arguement an aura of superficial credibility. In writing this book she speaks to those who still carry closet racism and prejudice, telling people who still hold such beliefs what they want to hear - that the Internment was justified, necessary, and any lessons that we as Americans have learned from it can be disregarded and forgotten. Of course maybe she's just crying for attention. She submitted an op-ed/advertisement for her book to the Star-Bulletin coinciding with the JACL's 75th anniversary ">being held in Honolulu. She starts off her piece by claiming that the JACL is not telling the truth about the internment. She's become a token asian mouthpiece for Fox news, and other conservative/right-wing groups spouting a lot of venomous comments at a lot of people. 8 . 8 . 0 4 August is here and for some reason it feels like Hawaii in December. I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures and lower humidity, its a good change from what DC is normally around this time of year. Heading down south to the Carolinas is a trip in itself, meeting some of the agencies in the field and figuring out what actually went on about a year ago will be a challenge. Looking forward to it overall. Another season of Real Time started up again, bringing up a lot of election year issues and topics. Last week had Micheal Moore which was quite a crowd pleaser, especially following the DNC. This week they had talk about the heightened DHS alert and more political commentary. I notice that they try to get a good balance of panel members, not to stack it too heavily right or left. Watching it reminded me last summer hiding in my hobbit hole from the sweltering heat in Dupont. The south is a whole other part of the country that I have not had much contact with, for the most part I can recall some of my favorite teachers in HS hailed from the south. Something about similarities to plantation mentality, agriculture, fried greasy food, small town relations, the Aloha spirit and Southern hospitality? I suppose I'd be willing to say that I've probably heard a lot of rumors about the south than actual facts. Heck, if midwesterns make fun of the south, then I wonder where Hawaii stands on the regional pecking order of Americans. Working out my finances over the past couple months, I've been able to save a decent amount of change from my meager earnings towards my future, be it school, real estate, or other investments. This and not really sacrificing leisure activities, at least not to the point where it would bother me that I was depriving myself of a normal life in the city. Will have to see how it all plays out still yet. |
