Aloha Malu ‘Aina friends,

While we haven’t given up on cost/share funding to acquire the ll.l adjacent acres of prime ag land through the State Legacy Lands program, the state budget situation doesn’t look promising for funding. Thus we would like to explore private funding sources. Our Malu ‘Aina supporters have already pledged $70,000 toward the purchase price of $250,000. The present owner, David Fukumoto, is willing to split all closing costs as part of a donation. That still leaves us about $l80,000 — $l90,000 short.

l. Can you help with grant writing ideas and/or with suggestions of possible grant writers to assist us in this effort?

Our Legacy Lands Application is available on the web at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw/llcp so a grant writer doesn’t have to start from scratch.

2. Another matter of concern is finding younger people to carry on the work. We need a key person or two as konohiki to shepherd this effort to involve others in growing and training grassroots people in organic food growing. I see my role to help secure the adjacent land and as a mentor to the next generation of Malu ‘Aina farmer/activists. But we need younger people to carry this forward as stewards of the land and as Board members of our non-profit organization. Please send any young people to visit Malu ‘Aina who may be interested in carrying the torch.

Mahalo for any help you can provide on the above two points. Your passion and commitment to the ‘aina and future generations is much appreciated.

Jim Albertini  808-966-7622 or email ja@interpac.net

Press Statement – Nov. 19, 2009 — Malu ‘Aina stands in Support of Ohana Ho’opakele and a Model Pu’uhonua at the site of Kulani prison.

Malu ‘Aina supports Ohana Ho’opakele’s vision for a model Pu’uhonua at Kulani Prison where the traditional process of ho’oponopono (to make right) would be used along with other restorative justice methods to to help repair the damages of crime for offender, victim, and all those affected by crime.

To facilitate such a Pu’uhonua we call for 3 points of action:

1. Keep Kulani minimum security prison open and functioning.  Do NOT close it.
2. Let Ohana Ho’opakele work with Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Kulani staff, and other community organizations to build a functioning Pu’uhonua at Kulani.
3. No Military training at Kulani by the State Department of Defense or the U.S. military.

Hawaii Island already has 57 known present and former military sites, many littered with Unexploded ordnance (UXO) and Pohakuloa with Depleted Uranium (DU).  The cost of cleaning up these sites (involving hundreds of thousands of acres of land and off-shore waters) will reach into the billions of dollars.  The last thing we need is another site for the military (be it the state of Hawaii Dept. of Defense or the U.S. military) to make another mess.  All of our mothers have taught us “Don’t even think about making a new mess until you have cleaned up your old mess.”  The military needs a mother to tell them to clean up after themselves.  They keep making mess after mess and don’t clean up.  The military continues to ignore Mother Nature with its desecration, contamiantion and pollution.  Malu ‘Aina says to the military — “No More Land Grabbing. No More Military Training sites.  Keep your hands off Kulani and its 8,000 acres of pristine land surrounding Kulani as defined in Executive Orders l225, l5888, and 3092 involving TMK 2-4-008-009

Malu ‘Aina believes that a Pu’uhonua (a place of refuge and healing) is a constructive alternative to the western concept of prisons and punishment which has proven not to be working to reduce recidivism.  Nor does prison heal the victim or offender and all those affected by crime.

Kulani is an ideal site for a Pu’uhonua in conjunction with keeping open the minimum security prison.  Kulani is a place of spiritual significance.  It’s peaceful forest setting is a natural place of refuge.  It has existing infrastructure and trained staff that genuinely care about the welfare of the prisoners.  Kulani has the real potential for economic self-sufficiency, as demonstrated through past activites which is very important in these hard economic times.

Jim Albertini,  Nov. 19, 2009
President, Malu ‘Aina

Troops out now!

The ghost of LBJ

Let us remember history and President Lyndon B. Johnson.

If the text in the above image is too small for you to read, here’s what it says:

“The Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare, the War on Poverty.  You know, I had a progressive domestic agenda too.  But I squandered my Presidency by escalating a war that my predecessor had started in a small third world country, attempting to conquer a people that would not be conquered by propping up a corrupt government with American lives and money.  As a result, I never realized my dream of a Great Society, never even ran for a 2nd term and will always be remembered, not for my good works, but for the holocaust I created in Vietnam.”

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“… President Obama is just about ready to send more troops. Maybe 44 thousand, that’s the number General McChrystal wants, bringing the total to over 100 thousand. When I read speculation last weekend that the actual number needed might be 600 thousand, I winced…  Whatever the total for Afghanistan, every additional thousand troops will cost us about a billion dollars a year. At a time when foreclosures are rising, benefits for the unemployed are running out, cities are firing teachers, closing libraries and cutting essential maintenance and services. That sound you hear is the ripping of our social fabric…”

– Bill Moyers, from his PBS Journal on Afghanistan, Oct. 30, 2009:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10302009/watch3.html

Stop the Wars! End U.S. Occupations!
No More Vietnams!