One very long reason why my vote will count.

Just three days before Hawaii’s general election and with my last minute efforts to be a responsible citizen, I find myself on this gorgeous Saturday morning actually clicking away on my computer and rummaging through online articles to understand the proposed amendments for my precinct.  The perplexing question I am trying to get resolution on is in regards to the purpose of the amendment relating to Early Childhood Education.

The ballot question is as follows:

CON AMEND: Relating to Early childhood Education
“Shall the appropriation of public funds be permitted for the support or benefit of private early childhood education programs that shall not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex or ancestry, as provided by law?”

One of my primary thoughts is, I don’t have any children, why would I care?  While it is my constitutional right as a citizen to vote, I have to consider making a pono decision.  Win or lose, with or without child, I know that I support the side of the question that best suits my morals and beliefs.

While it sounds crazy that providing public funds to private entities may occur under this amendment, the reality is much more complex.  According one of the major supporters of voting “yes,” I found an answer to one of the important questions I had:

How will it be funded?  The amendment does not dictate how much or what specific sources would provide funding. Rather, it simply puts Hawaii on the same early learning playing field as every other state in the nation by giving it the option to use a mixed delivery system. Funding for the program will ultimately be determined by our elected officials. Hawaii will also be able to leverage federal funds to create prekindergarten options. Without the amendment, current state law makes us less competitive in applying for these funds. (http://yeson4hi.org/why/attack_answers.pdf).

Voting yes will apparently change current state laws and provide more opportunities for federal money.  What clearly sticks out is this, “Funding for the program will ultimately be determined by our elected officials…”  Instead of trying to determine what to vote here on the amendments, we need to focus on who were are electing as our officials.  Vote yes and do your research on which official you want in office that will spearhead this project and ensure that this amendment is not a useless process. 

….and now back to me…although I do not have any children, my vote does count!

Only in Hawaii

While Hawaii is attempting to recycle, the campaign has attached unique signs to help distinguish recycling receptacles:

Sake...yummy!

The 10th annual sake tasting arrived in town last night. With 300 different blends from Japan and around the world, my friends and I were fortunate to sample various sake that is not even available outside of Japan.

It seemed like a great idea to attempt to drink every one....IMPOSSIBLE! What the hell was I even thinking about. While each type was judged, I had the overall winners in the differing categories...at the very least. Yummy goodness.

Along with the sake, some of my favorite restaurants offered tapa-like pupus. Hamachi, pork belly, shrimp ceviche....so frackin good! Then...while waiting in the longest line for:



....we thought, it better be awesome! Uh, it wasn't. So disappointing I can't even mention where it came from.


So the after effects: I awoke to a sake headache! Oh well, c`est la vie!

A healthy start...

In my attempts to get healthier, my friend and I began walking. This day, we walked on Kailua beach and the water was super crowded with kite surfers. With the wind and rain, we walk down the beach. With so many kite surfers in the water, I thought they looked like Iwa birds.

Back in the day, before the world knew about kite surfing, I watched this lone guy sail up and down Kailua beach. At the time I thought, "This guy is a genius. Who the heck is he? Whoa he's getting major aerials out there!" Soon enough, I learnt that it was Robby Naish. Well, I'm not suprised. I'd like to say that I was one of the first to witness the sport in the making. Now...the waters are infultrated with so many kite surfers, it looks a bit crazy. I wonder, with the amount of people out there, a regular boater can't make there way through. Well, tuff sh** for them I guess.

So back to the exercise regime...well, I guess it's not much of an exercise when our water bottles are filled with New Castle and a Vodka cocktail. What the hell...we will persevere and make it to the trails of Daimond Head.