posted on February 28, 2008 08:41:47 AM
Or. . . Obamania.
Obama attended the private school Pounahou on Oahu, spent most of his young years in Hawaii. Everywhere we went last week, on Oahu, there were Obama signs, bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc. Headlines nearly every day in the papers, interviews with his (very classy) sister.
_____________________
posted on February 28, 2008 12:20:44 PM
Welcome back, Roadsmith.
There is a good video of Obama's delightful sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, here.
"I want to emphasize my brother loves these islands. He loves these islands with every fiber of his being," Soetoro-Ng told the crowd.
* * *
"His ability to build bridges between worlds was built in these islands. . . ."
* * *
Soetoro-Ng also shared how Obama took care of her after the deaths of her parents.
She said her brother taught her poetry and philosophy and the first book he gave her was by award-winning African American author Toni Morrison, who has since endorsed Obama.
posted on February 28, 2008 01:55:39 PM
Hi Roadsmith...hope you had a nice vacation (no I don't, it was freezing and awful here and I was hoping it rained everyday of your vacation )
I guess Obama has Hawaii sewn up!
He's kicking Hillary's butt.
Oh, but that "unfortunate" middle name that the repugs keep bringing up along with that mouthy wife!!!
posted on February 28, 2008 05:38:37 PM
Thanks for that link, Helen. What an impressive woman she seems to be, beautiful speaking voice and smart.
Mingo, I hate to break it to you, but we *did* have a marvelous laid-back time. These friends are very comfortable to be with, casual about eating times, like to read as we do, showed us around, and had two cats who were fun to be with, too.
We brought our DVD of Red, White, and Screwed (Lewis Black) for them to watch. What a hoot that was.
_____________________
posted on February 29, 2008 04:25:41 AM
Welcome back roadsmith and you too Mingo. I'm starting to like Obama. But I'm not liking how many dems are liking McGain
I've never been to Hawaii, seems like a tiny place with way too many people in it.
posted on February 29, 2008 05:52:31 AM
Profe, I just can't believe that after the last 7 years there are Americans stupid enough to continue with Republicans.
I guess they must just LOVE the death and maiming of thousands of Americans, a crumbling economy, weak borders with no security,loss of our rights and the destruction of the Constitution. They must love dictatorships.
Obama/Clinton may not be perfect but the alternative will be disastrous.
But I've been in other chat rooms, political and otherwise and, ya know, there ARE a lot of really stupid people in this country and I'm not going to be PC and say they just have a different opinion...they are stupid.
Some have no idea about how the bush administration has ignored and trampled the laws and Constitution.
Some are still all fired up because Obama's middle name is Hussein! Some hate Hillary because her husband cheated on her...while McCain HIMSELF cheated on his wife that doesn't seem to bother them.
OTOH, I've also found some good reading by intelligent posters and have had to behave myself!
"I've never been to Hawaii, seems like a tiny place with way too many people in it."
Our population per mile makes Hawaii look like a deserted island. But I agree that even in Hawaii, there are too many people...especially tourists.
I think that if my husband had the authority, he might instigate some action to thin out the territory. He wants to be able to drive from one point to another unimpeded by other people.
posted on February 29, 2008 07:16:16 AM
I heard that if you want to enjoy Hawaii you just have to get off the tourist beaches but I wonder what they do with all that garbage...where do they put it...now let's see....cut down on tourists or ...dump it all out to sea......
Helen, I wish I shared your optimism about the election but don't forget there were 51 million really stupid people who voted bushit back into office AND
the voting machine issue has NOT been addressed nor resolved.
posted on February 29, 2008 11:55:09 AM
Helen, please tell me how McCain has no chance...I'll feel much better if you can. Looks to me like it's going to be another hair splitting election. With all of the Republican seats in Congress that are up for grabs I have a feeling that there are enough conservative Democrats out there who will figure that it's not such a bad deal to have McCain in office with a Dem controlled congress, and will vote for him. I'm not saying it's a good thing, I'm just saying...
Profe, you certainly have access to at least the information that I have. So if you believe, based on that information, that McCain has a chance to become the next president of the United States, there is nothing that I can say to relieve you of that nightmare.
posted on February 29, 2008 01:06:03 PM
Certainly anyone who dreams of a Democratic landslide is delusional or at best on the same stuff peepa was smoking.
posted on February 29, 2008 02:35:24 PM
Profe: Last time we were on Oahu, we stayed at a hotel right on Waikiki Beach and the beach was horribly radio-noisy and crowded - to the point that people's beach blankets were overlapping! Unbelievable, and we got the wrong impression about Oahu.
This time we were in Kailua, around the island from Waikiki, and it was heavenly. Not too many people, not too much traffic, hardly anyone on their wonderful beaches. We've had to revise our opinions.
_____________________
posted on February 29, 2008 07:31:00 PM...there is nothing that I can say to relieve you of that nightmare
Nightmare is right! I wish I could be as optimistic. I guess I'm just cynical enough to think there are some dems who, in the final hour, just won't vote for a black man, or for that matter a woman. Hopefully, Obama is energizing enough young voters; who otherwise might not turn out, to negate those dems who'll vote their fear. I sure hope I'm wrong. I am, pretty often
posted on February 29, 2008 07:37:35 PM
roadsmith, glad to hear you found a quiet spot...I once went to an island off the coast of Honduras with a friend who described it as idyllic. Idyllic if your idea of a tropical paradise is wall to wall American tourists and overpriced beer, and stuck on an island with no place to escape to boot. I ran back to the little rat's ass village I had been squatting in in Guatemala as soon as I could get a boat off that place. Cheap beer, lots of free food and purty gals in the bargain. Who needs a fancy hotel?
posted on March 1, 2008 08:57:28 AM
The last time I was in Honolulu was in the late 80s,breakfast may be cheap but coffee is not included.
So when the bill comes,it is no longer cheap.
It seems no one can find a reasonable place to live,only locals who own their homes are doing ok.
Many locals hold 2 jobs,rental agent at Hertz rent a car and sell floor products on the side.
These days they have homeless families squatting on the beach,both parents work and come home to their 'beach home',take shower,BBQ and supervise their kids' homework.
*
Lets all stop whining !
The idyllic fantasy of a traveler rarely matches the reality of another place.
Jamaca Kincaid, a native of Antigua had a few good words for tourists vs natives in the Carribbean.
"An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish pausing here and there to gaze at this and taste that, and it will never occur to you that the people who inhabit the place in which you have just paused cannot stand you, that behind their closed doors they laugh at your strangeness."
"But some natives -- most natives in the world -- cannot go anywhere. They are too poor. They are too poor to go anywhere. They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live properly in the place where they live, which is the very place you, the tourist, want to go -- so when the natives see you, the tourist, they envy you, they envy your ability to leave your own banality and boredom, they envy your ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself."
)
