Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 3, 1 March 2013 — Random thoughts [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Random thoughts

This month's eolumn has little to do directly with Hawaiian specific issues or concerns. I guess sometimes I get frustrated with our incestuous institutional dialogue where we seem to deliberately separate ourselves from the rest of Hawai'i and become so self-absorbed that we can't see the forest for the trees.

So today, I thought I'd take a break and write about how we seem the same as our nonHawaiian friends and neighbors. We worry about the same things: paying the rent, holding a decent job, educating our kids, keeping our family safe, taking care of aging parents, achieving home ownership. We all need reasons to smile. Our thoughts and concerns radiate beyond just being Hawaiian and we are the same in many ways. So, what follows is an eclectic list of random thoughts that cross my mind as I take this respite from my usual eolumn. O'AHU TRAFFIC The shortest distance between two points is under construction. GUN CONTROL The second amendment of the U.S. Constitution refers to the people's "right to bear arms." Instead of telling people what they can't have, such as a ban on assault rifles, it would be better to spell out what they ean have. Personally, I can't get my head around the idea that the citizenry should be better armed than the poliee or the Army. Arm teachers and janitors? Give me a break. I say bring the Army home and send the NRA to Afghanistan. STEW LŪ'AU Dis wen broke my mout' . Google "stew luau" and "Chef Mark Noguehi." It's a recipe for dummies like me. Make plenty, 'cause you going like eat 'um for days. WHAT DO FOOD, ENERGY, TOURISM AND THE MILITARY HAVE IN COMMON?

These are the cornerstones of the Hawaiian economy. It's scary that all four sectors remain outside the boundaries of loeal control, that the big decisions are made in corporate boardrooms thousands of miles away. Hawai'i is 90 percent dependent on imported food and 90 percent dependent on imported oil for energy. Tourism, our

largest industry, is driven by multinational corporations who render locals irrelevant to their decisions. As for the military, no matter how well-intended or high-ranking the loeal commanders, they have no ehoiee but to dance to the sound of bugles from Washington, D.C., and the Pentagon. Brace for the post-Inouye years of federal money deprivation. Hawai'i is a movie whose script is being written somewhere else. ON BEING CATHOLIC The Pope just resigned. I am a baptized Catholic and attended Catholie schools. I was ex-communicated years ago for marrying a woman who was previously married. My appeal for dispensation was denied by the Vatican. That was my first elue that Catholic doctrine flew in the face of eommon sense for people like me who think that birth control makes sense, that same-sex marriage is a legal constitutional question that has nothing to do with religion, that the priesthood for women is long overdue . . . auwe! Good luek to the next Pope. He has a church to save. DEMOCRACY When viewed in 10- and 20-year increments, democracy seems like chaos and impending disaster. But, somehow over a long span of time the American people seem to rise to collective greatness. I never thought I'd live to see a black president - from Hawai'i. Truly amazing. ■ What is your mana'o? I always enjoy hearing from you, our beneficiaries. Contact me at PeterA OHA @ gmail.com.

PetEr Apo VicE Chair, TrustEE, O'ahu