Hawaiian Voyaging

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earthstonestation's avatarearthstonestation

Navigating the World

041They sail with no charts or instruments. No timepiece. No compass. They navigate as their ancestors did, guided by a world of natural signs—the arcing stars, sun, and moon; the signs of direction in swell and wind and current. Two voyaging canoes, the Hokule’a and Hikianalia departed Hawai’i on such a journey at the end of May. About 28 days later they had reached Tahiti. The journey will continue as these two double-hulled canoes sail to Australia, the Indian Ocean, round the Horn of Africa, make numerous port in the Mediterranean, cross the Atlantic Ocean and bring their message to the continents of North and South America before returning home to Hawai’i. The Hawaiian name for this voyage, Mālama Honua, means ‘to care for our Earth’.

I had the fortunate opportunity to be present for a Hawaiian blessing ceremony in Hilo, Hawai’i as the Hokule’a and  Hikianalia

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Despite a Handshake and a Promise, Still NO Gates Foundation REPLY to #EducatingGatesRally Demands

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Highlighting Members' Needs's avatarTeachers' Letters to Bill Gates

Gates Divest from Corporate EdReform

Photo Courtesy of Alex Garland Photography, used with permission.

Dear Bill and Melinda,

In the summer of 2011 the seeds of this protest were planted when I read Bruce Levine’s book “Get Up, Stand Up:  Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite”.  Bruce Levine and I talked on the phone and exchanged emails that summer.  He spoke and wrote about the need to take our grassroots’ protest to the corporate elite vs the politicians — because that is where the real power seat is held.

Yet that July, I found myself taking the message to the politicians instead at the Save Our Schools March in DC, where I was fortunate to meet educator/activist/author Anthony Cody, Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch, and so many of my activist friends.  During that meeting the plans for this protest were hatched.  We convened again in DC the following year.  It…

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Cooper Harris

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I was watching CNN’s coverage of the hearing for Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia father who left his child, Cooper, in a car during a hot Georgia day, claiming he “forgot” his child.

The hearing barely began and this guy’s actions revealed a depraved person.

As police officer Stoddard described Ross’ actions–he was more worried about how this death affected him, instead of how his poor child suffered. Same reaction in the courtroom that day–he sat emotionless as the police officer described Cooper’s condition upon arrival.  Nothing from this guy…until a witness began describing Justin’s reactions that day–which I’m leaning towards as staged–especially after learning that both Justin and his wife were doing internet searches on kids left in hot cars.

When I was watching Alex Hall testify, I was struck by his lack of emotion, also.  I mean, this is the son of your buddy, wouldn’t that make you cry that this poor child suffered and  is now dead?

I have not been for the death penalty for a long time, but this case is making me reexamine that–as they described poor Cooper with his eyes and mouth open and claw marks down his face as he evidently was suffering and unable to escape that oven–I want Justin and his wife to suffer as Cooper did.  I know I’m just being emotional right now, but God, I want them to be locked in a car with no ability to escape and suffer as he did.

I cannot even wrap my brain around such depravity.

Why not give the child up for adoption if you no longer wanted to parent him?  No, these narcissist sociopaths could not allow that…they wanted the life insurance money.