Aloha

So Hawaiians want the same status as mainline Indian tribes. (A google search will give you the all the so-called reasoning behind the Akaka bill, but basically it’s a load of kaka which I’ll spare you.)

Taken from Yahoo news, “Akaka's current legislation would grant membership in a new Native Hawaiian "tribe" to anyone who can trace their ancestry to "the aboriginal, indigenous, native people" living in Hawaii "on or before January 1, 1893."

“You also qualify if your ancestors were eligible in 1921 for largesse from the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which stipulated at least one-half Native Hawaiian blood.”

Why such hula hoopla?

How many individual sovereign states can we possible have within the United States? Why do we have to apologize to Hawaiians? What for? (I’ve always thought they were pretty damn lucky to live in paradise.) Is this another casino driven, hurt feelings, racial separating law? Do they want to sell cheap cigarettes too?

What the heck is going on here? If Hawaii doesn’t like belonging to the US then why doesn’t it go back to its previous life – I don’t think we have to round off states to 50 – Forty-nine states sounds okay to me.

I like pineapples and leis and Hawaii in general, but this new legislation is silly.

I’m sick of all the sub-groups and special folk who want to turn a good old cast iron melting pot into a mosaic of individual tribes and sects.

And if we need to apologize to Hawaiians, we need to apologize to Bridget Conroy’s family too.

She was sent here to the US to work as a cook ( high up on the servant status) , but was labeled a dirty Irishwoman because old Typhoid Mary was spreading the disease through cooking and she also was from Ireland.

So my poor ancestor Bridget had to work as a laundress instead ( low end of servant status) --because of her ethnic background and where she settled: New York.

They didn’t want any more Typhoid spread you see.

So, does New York owe me something or do I owe Hawaii something?

Good thing Aloha means both hello AND goodbye.