Hard Rock served up memories with turkey

I had an opportunity to attend the Hard Rock Cafe's free Thanksgiving lunch, starting at 10 a.m. It was a memorable experience. I was able to see a lot of memorabilia on the wall from musicians like Bob Dylan and John Lennon, Elvis photos and the surfboard wall with an autographed picture of Duke Kahanamoku. It was Hau'oli La Ho'omaikai experience for me Thursday at Honolulu's Hard Rock Cafe!

Lingle's contradicting on earlier statements

In 2002 when Linda Lingle first aspired to governorship, she met with the I Mua group to stress her inherent kinship with Hawaiian causes. Lingle made clear the unique value that the Israel homeland represents to world Jewry, with bindings of history, culture, ancestry and genealogy, a profound relationship beyond simple geography or real estate. She articulated clearly her parallel appreciation of the singular reverence that the aina invokes in kanaka maoli, whence is imbedded their connections of culture, religion, common beliefs, customs and mores.

Lingle now ignores those sentiments. She no longer feels any advantage flowing from her earlier, and hopefully forgotten, political calculus.

The plight of Hawaiians and Hawaiian land preservation are no longer worthy of her serious attention. Previous calls to “;preserve the culture”; have morphed into “;control and sell the ceded lands.”; She ignores the voice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and entreats the national court to abet her land theft. See how Lingle easily bends, how she gracefully spins, how she cleverly twists. Auwe.

School closures shouldn't be political

Gov. Linda Lingle has supported a process of consolidating underutilized public school facilities since 2005, when the Economic Momentum Commission that she convened to develop an action plan to sustain economic growth first put forth the recommendation.

The EMC proposed that the Board of Education establish an Education Facilities Revitalization Committee with a charter similar to that of the federal Base Realignment and Closure Committee that is tasked with military base realignments. The committee would have objectively examined our future public education requirements, made recommendations on the proper Department of Education infrastructure to meet those needs, and recommended specific closures and/or consolidations.

Lingle agreed with the EMC's recommendation because there has been a steady decline in enrollment at the DOE. In addition, the geographic location of public schools is significantly misaligned with the state's demographic changes.

In 2006, 2007 and 2008 the Hawaii Legislature considered bills that proposed various methods of public school consolidation. The only bill to successfully emerge from the Legislature and onto the governor's desk for enactment was House Bill 2972. Lingle vetoed that measure because the bill unfairly targeted certain schools. No rationale was provided as to why these schools were singled out while others were not.

The decision to consolidate schools shouldn't be based on the preferences of political leaders, but rather be based on an objective examination of public education needs.

Dangerous symbol lurks in kids' movie

Children and other people seeing the very cute movie “;Wall-E”; on a recent DVD release should be warned that a cigarette lighter is shown attractively as a sentimental object, though cigarette lighters have ignited the early deaths of millions of people.

Leave worries behind, it's Christmastime

It is time for all of us to put the

Economic problems behind us,

Throw your worries out the door

Shop till you drop

Have confidence in the markets,

Like the mauka cool refreshing rains

Or a soothing summer breeze,

Like a fresh bouquet of roses

Or the smell of the Hawaiian seas,

Hawaii's aloha spirit is always

Filled with food family and friends,

It the season to be jolly because

It's Christmastime again!