TGIF, WAIKIKI

IT'S NICE OUT

It's Always Nice Out. It's Hawaii.

Endless summer. Relatively mild summer. 70F-80F, all year round. Record high, 95F, which is rare. Trade winds keep us cool, almost always. 60F-70F, at night. Record low: 52F, except up in the mountains.

Mauna Kea, on the Big Island of Hawaii, gets a bit of snow this time of year. Not much. It's the highest mountain in the world, higher than Everest, if you measure from the sea bed, the bottom of the Pacific Ocean; instead of sea level, the top of the ocean, which is CHEATING!.

That, and the fact that it's over two thousand miles from any major land mass, or island chain, is why there are lots of observatories on top of it. No light pollution, clear, clean air. And a little snowboarding. No ski lifts, and the road up there sucks. But it's the road to the stars. If we ever contact ET, it may happen up there, on Mauna Kea.

We do get a bit of vog, volcanic smog, from Mount Kilauea, on Hawaii, the Big Island (about five times the size of Oahu, with only 100,000 people). It's nasty, but it's infrequent, except on the Big Island itself. Kilauea is an active volcano, in slow, steady eruption for most of the last twenty years now.

It's one of the few active volcanoes in the world that a turista can walk right up to, and watch the lava extrude slowly into the ocean. Or, shoot out, in a rush, sometimes. Nice view from the air, or the ocean, especially at night, with the hot lava glowing in the darkness as it hits the ocean in a burst of steam. Not so nice if you had a house, in its' path.

It's also one of the few places in the world where new real estate is being manufactured. Of course, it's a black plain of hot glass, and needle-like rocks. But, with a little top soil, and a lot of patience, it's home sweet home. Unless the lava flow changes direction, again.

The Big Island's not too touristy yet, except maybe Kona, on the dry side. Hilo is a funky, perpetually rainy place, not for tourists. Not much to do but relax and enjoy the ocean, the mountains, and the volcano. Maybe smoke some crack.

Another island is coming up, south of Hawaii: Loihi. It'll take thousands of years to surface. But, hey, it's the tropics. We're on Hawaiian time. Right now, only a newly-discovered life form lives down there. Something not quite plant or animal, that can live in boiling, sulphurous waters, under tremendous pressure at the bottom of the deep blue sea. We can only hope they come in peace.

The rest of the island chain, 1,600 miles long from north to south, is pretty well settled. There are earthquakes on the ocean floor from time to time, but we rarely feel them here on Oahu, the Gathering Isle for Hawaiians for thousands of years, where most people in the State now live, 900,000+.

It's all the City and County of Honolulu, not much different from Oakland or San Diego, California; but Polynesian, and Oriental. Only about 140 miles all the way around the outside edge of the island, counting bays, and points, etc; less than fifty miles at its widest.

If you want the old Hawaii, the Hawaiian Hawaii, you'd have to go to Niihau, but you can't. That's the Forbidden Isle: Hawaiians only, pretty much. Not many people there. It's small. Molokai and Lanai are a little bigger, and a little less Hawaiian, but not too touristy. Bit small, flat and dull, though, compared to the other, more mountainous islands.

To get back to nature in a bigger way, try Kauai, the Friendly Isle. Hey, I don't make these nicknames up. Kauai is the least populous of the larger islands: It's a little smaller than Oahu, but it only has 60,000 people. Great place for romantic getaways, and retreats of the rich & famous. Got a fabulous canyon over there, too: Waimea.

Then there's Maui, the Garden Isle, home of Maui Wowie. Lots of water sports (not THAT kind!) and good, clean fun over there, too. The island is a little bigger than Oahu, but it has only 100,000 people. Oahu is flat in the middle, with mountains along the west coast (Leeward side, Wai'anae), and the east coast (Windward side, Ko'olau).

The other islands are more mountainous in the middle, with most people living along the edges, by the ocean, and some in upland valleys. Join the crowds for the sunrise atop Mount Haleakala, home of the gods, and bicycle down. Or not. Maui is nice, but there's not much shopping, or night life. And it's getting a little too touristy.

Oahu has the hotels, the shops, the malls, the restaurants, the nightclubs, the gay bars, the discos, the strip joints, the hookers, the drugs, the crime. It's pretty tame, though, compared to most big cities on the Mainland. Unless you're a surfer. Then there's the North Shore, still only one hotel, somewhat laid back, home to all the famous surfing beaches, Waimea, Pipeline, Sunset Beach.

50-foot waves in the winter, when the big storms come in from the North Pacific. That's our rainy season, November to March. But it's been kind of dry, the last few years. And when it rains now, it pours, which is unusual for here. Most people still don't even own an umbrella. There's no Weather Channel here.

I'll give you the forecast for the next ten years: Tradewinds 5-15mph, 70-80 degrees, chance of showers, Windward and Mauka (upland). Some chance of hot, humid, smoggy Kona winds next week, but we're out of hurricane season, pretty much, until late Spring. Listen for tsunami warnings. You never know. Hilo has been wiped out twice in the last sixty years.

So there you have it. I'm actually talking about the weather. And there isn't any, here. Aloha, and all that hauoli kukae lio, you pupule haole lolos!

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WAR IS HELL

WHAT PART OF THAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

How Can We Really Be Shocked By Anything That Happens In Iraq?

It's insane to send young kids, or old farts, for that matter, into a situation of utter chaos, where it's kill or be killed, and still expect perfectly civilized behavior from all parties at all times. These Marines did not create this situation. They did not start this war. But it's their asses that are in it now. If you don't like this sort of thing, don't make war. Don't allow your country, or your kids to go to war, without true, direst reasons. Ever.

The Hague and Geneva conventions are bullshit. Like declaring Marquis of Queensbury Rules in a street-fight. They're bullshit because of the vicious pretense that one large group of men, and women now, can ever go out to war, with the expressed intention of killing and maiming as many members of another large group as possible, and carry on like civilized people. War is the opposite of civilization. Either you stop it, and never do it again, or you go on as we always have, slaughtering each other. No way to make it any nicer. Hell is Hell.

Modern warfare is, in fact, far worse than Henry V's kind. Civilians are targets, intended or not. Total destruction is the goal. And we have the technology to make it so complete, so devastating, that everyone might actually be killed, on both sides. Hell on Earth. Get it?

The blame goes to those on top. Especially in this war. It was unprovoked; against a vanquished enemy we duped into attacking an ally in the first place. It was excused with blatant and indefensible lies about WMDs, which never existed. It was primed by ruthless exploitation of the tragedy of 9/11, with which we always knew Iraq had no connection. It was carried out in the sloppiest and most irresponsible manner, with no regard for the consequences. And this murder in Falluja is an inevitable consequence of all that.

The Marines responsible, the shooters, may well be shot, themselves. Perhaps they should be, if they did it, without lawful reason. And some lowly sergeant or lieutenant may see his career end. But no Generals, no Under-Secretaries of Defense, no one in the White House will lose a minute's sleep, an hour's pay, or a day's liberty. Certainly not that great moral leader, and professed Christian, George W. Bush.

In this war, the Hague and Geneva Conventions will be enforced only against low-ranking troops. Those giving the orders, making the policies, sitting at the top of the chain of command, will get away scot-free. Reichsmarschall Goering waddles away free, and Feldwebel Schultz goes to the hangman, at Nuremburg. Our "leaders" have declared themselves to be above the laws of war. They have refused to recognize the jurisdiction of any international war crimes tribunal. Now you know why. The Law will have to be content with lowly lance corporals, and a sergeant or two, in this war's atrocities. And THAT is a crime.

THAT is propping open the gates of Hell. That is giving the strongest nations' leaders complete immunity for all of their crimes, no matter how heinous; carte blanche to do whatever they like, and to kill as they will. Any nation. Not just us. We could be the target, some day. And we just threw out the rule book. Civilization is over, my friends. Mark your calendar. The rule of law died today. Unless you are a lowly soldier.

So, yeah. There's no need to worry. These Marines, like those soldiers at Abu Graibh, will be punished. And they deserve it, if they did it. But our laws say that the military commanders, and even the political leaders, are responsible, too. But nothing will ever happen to any of them. And, as we used to say during Vietnam, "The whole world is watching."

"The whole world is watching." It may be time to start chanting that in the streets again. Lest we all become complicit in these crimes. This is a democracy, you know; or it used to be. And that makes each and every one of us responsible for this war, and those atrocities. Whether we like it, or voted for it, or not. Because, like those good Germans in the 1930s and 40s, we just didn't do enough to stop it. We let it go on. And on. And on. So, think, before you condemn these Marines. You may be guilty, too. In the eyes of the world. And in the eyes of history.

reposted from Ratboy's Anvil


"Amnesty Calls for ‘Unequivocal Orders’ to Prevent War Crimes in Iraq"



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