The other day, a walk down the block went awry. While heading to the corner store, I passed a man standing on his front steps 3 or 4 doors down from mine and, trying to be neighborly, I nodded towards him and said “how you doin’?” He responded with an unfriendly glare and a barrage of questions about where I was going, where I’m from and the like.… [Read more]
I’m not sure what mechanism of time it is that has provoked in me a profound change. I am from Hawai‘i. As with most places that were colonized, there exists a complex mixture of assimilation, independence, hostility, and acceptance. People still take offense when outsiders refer to non-Hawaiian residents of the islands as Hawaiians. Hawaiian is an ethnicity; the nomenclature for a non-ethnic resident of Hawai‘i is, “local.” The Hawaiian word is kama‘āina (native born).… [Read more]
I had some offline discussions as soon as my last article about Ron Paul went online. It became obvious after exchanging a few emails that what is missing is a reference to context. The difference in our interpretation is due to a great analytical book that I had read recently.
Here is a short review of the book that should give you a reference to context; I would certainly recommend that you invest time in reading the complete book.… [Read more]
