Again, Hawaii sidestepped Hurricane Lowell, or the other way around.  In any case, there were some damages.   Here is a video , titled, Chaos in Hawaii...Powerful Hurricane Lowell Wreaks Havoc, Devastating Kauai.   And another. As the Silver Whisper approaches Hawaii, a story on how we became the 50th state in the Union.  The following came through my e-mail, and I have no idea who wrote it.  I'll use italics when I refer to the write-up and add a few graphics.  Thank you, whoever you are.  For six decades, Washington's answer was NO. Hawaii was not American enough. Senators said the reasons out loud. Hiram Fong remembered them all his life: "It was said that we were Communist-infiltrated, that there were too many orientals here, that we would not be good Americans." Mississippi's James Eastland put it even plainer. Statehood would mean "two votes against all racial segregation." For the men who ran the Senate, that was reason enough to keep ...

If you've been following my blog, you know that Tuesdays are for nostalgia, and that I've been looking back at those postings featuring Pearl's Ashes.   Last week it was Africa .  Today, the island of Kauai, for a whole chapter of a possible upcoming book,  Pearl's Ashes , will occur on Kauai.  To quote: While she is from the Big Island, Kauai was where we mostly lived the first year of our marriage, and therefore might have been our most memorable stop.  At the Kilauea Sugar Company where I was a trainee, we were provided a cottage with the slippery slide location of the movie   South Pacific   (right, where Bloody Mary sang   Happy Talk   to Liat, played by France Nuyen--and, amazingly enough, Pearl looks just like her, and they were even born in the same year--and Lt. Cable) as our backyard. Below in 1963 with Pepper, a mostly german shepherd she raised from 6 weeks old.  He was so large that the only way I could wash him was to ...

Time   magazine had three articles on Donald Trump's blow-out win in Iowa last night: Trump Dominates in Iowa . How Trump Took Control of the GOP Primary. In Iowa, Ron DeSantis Takes His Loss as a Win . Also,  Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchison dropped out , leaving three Republican candidates. You might wonder why DeSantis and Haley are continuing to run. They mostly harbor hopes that Trump will be prevented from running for president this year.  The Supreme Court could still make their dreams come true.  Clearly, court cases won't be any factor.  And Trump is in a New York court today. Odds are fair that Haley could beat Trump in New Hampshire, with DiSantis a distant third. However, the Donald will embarrass Nikki in her home state of South Carolina, and the end result will be similar to Iowa, with DeSantis this time in third place.  That will occur on February 27. So if Trump remains eligible to run, he will be officially nominated in mid-July. One reaso...