I was born there. In Honolulu, 1956. I have the Kenyan birth certificate to prove it.

I didn’t return until we were living in Seattle, and I was about 35. It’s an amazing place. Hard to believe it is part of the United States, really.

Until you read history.

Hawaii had a unique and beautiful native culture until we came along. First, we negotiated a treaty to establish a military base. The United States Sugar interests moved in and stole Hawaii from its native people. In January 1893, Sanford B. Dole staged a coup against Queen Liliuokalani. That was that.

“How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?”

You recognize the name Dole, right?

Sugar Cane and Pineapple plantations were the largest employers in Hawaii.

Cheaper Sugar Cane labor was found in India, South America, and the Caribbean. And Pineapples production moved to the Philippines and Thailand, where labor cost pennies on the dollar compared to the U.S.

Today, the Island Of Lanai, once one of the largest Pineapple plantations in the world, is a private luxury playground for billionaires.

America took a nation from its indigenous people. We grew big business, that needed to keep growing, so we farmed production out to cheap labor overseas.

Anybody notice a pattern?

Yeah, that’s the story of our country. Maybe that’s why we fear immigrants so much. Perhaps we should fear our own aggressive business practices as well.

So when I see Hawaii on the evening news, I laugh at the coverage. A small volcanic event affecting 10 square miles in the least populated area of the largest island gets reported this way:

Hawaii volcano shoots lava into sky; evacuations ordered

That blaring headline has no context if you’ve never been to Hawaii. And make no mistake, for those in Leilani Estates, it’s a disaster.

But don’t cancel your vacation. You weren’t going anywhere near the eruption anyway. Kona is 100 miles away. The weather is gorgeous.

Nice to see that Fake News stories are not all about Politics.

https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/hawaii-volcanologist-its-absolutely-safe-come-hawaii-island

Aloha!

Bob