The Fire Next Time!

Climate disaster and nuclear war pose the two greatest threats to life on the planet.

      Poor Houston and the Gulf Coast region! The catastrophe is still unfolding with unprecedented rainfall and flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Houston is experiencing its third “500-year” flood in 3 years! The death toll is mounting as I write. Homes and businesses destroyed in the thousands. The damage to property very likely will be in the tens of billions of dollars.

      Houston is known as “Petro Metro” and is home to more than a dozen oil refineries. The people who live closest to these industrial sites are low income and minority communities. Poor people of color bear the greatest burden of climate change, harmful pollution, and have the fewest options when natural or man-made disaster strikes. They do not have vacation homes and private country clubs to relocate to like the Trump, Bush, and corporate CEO families. The ordinary people of Texas and Louisiana effected by this flooding need support and I encourage all of us to do what we can to help.

“God gave Noah the rainbow sign/ No more water/  the fire next time.”           

    The risk of nuclear war, by accident or design, is at it’s highest point since the end of the cold war. Tensions with North Korea, Russia, China, Iran, etc. could spiral out of control very quickly into the use of nuclear weapons. Accidents also happen as shown by two recent collisions of billion dollar U.S. warships. Any use of nuclear weapons in the world could make the catastrophe in Texas pale in comparison.

     Who is the biggest threat to world peace? Consider the following. The US has 800 military bases in 63 countries worldwide, and military personnel presently active in 156 countries. The US has been at war or in a military conflict for 224 of its 241 years in existence. The US defense budget is higher than the defense budgets of the next 8 countries combined. The US is the only country that has ever dropped a nuclear bomb on a population, killing 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The US has 6,800 nuclear weapons and is planning to spend $1 trillion dollars to modernize its nuclear arsenal.

Malama Honua ( Take Care of the Earth)

Wage Peace Not War!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
   4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
   5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.

Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org

Sign up on our website to receive our posts  http://www.malu-aina.org/

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet September 1, 2017– 832nd week – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

On Monday Aug. 28, 2017 Interfaith Communities in Action held a “Faith Voices For Justice” sign holding vigil on Bayfront in Hilo.  It was in response to voices of white supremacy, racial injustice in Charlottesville, Virginia and elsewhere. The vigil was attended by about 50-75 people of different Faiths.   I attended the vigil with a sign “Aloha Not Hate” and offered the leaflet below to other participants to support Mauna Kea protectors.

Jim Albertini

An Invitation to

“Faith Voices for Justice”

     It is an honor to stand with you today here in Hilo “to advocate for justice for all people” and “ repudiate the voices of race supremacy and segregation.” It is important that Faith Voices stand in public witness “for justice throughout the land.”

     In this spirit, I would like to extend to you an invitation to join a Vigil for Justice on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 from 7:30 -9AM on Banyan Drive fronting the Naniloa Hotel in support of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) seeking to protect their most sacred mountain –- Mauna Kea –Mauna a Wakea. At 9AM on that day, Kanaka Maoli will be appealing to the Board of Land & Natural Resources to deny a permit for the 18 story Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop Mauna Kea, the fourteenth telescope to be built in the sacred summit area and the tallest building on the island.

“Mauna Kea is sacred to the Native Hawaiians and is the zenith of their ancestral ties to creation.   The upper regions, Wao Akua, are the realms of the Akua (creator) and the summit is a temple of the Supreme Being in not only Hawaiian culture but also in many histories throughout Polynesia.  It is the home of Na Akua (divine deities) and Na’Aumakua (divine ancestors) as well as the meeting place of Papa (Earth Mother) and Wakea (Sky Father) who are progenitors of the Hawaiian people.  It is also both a burial ground and the embodiment of ancestors that include Na Alii and Kahuna (high ranking chiefs and priests.)  Modern Native Hawaiians continue to regard Mauna Kea with reverence and many cultural and religious practices are still performed there.  In addition to sacred importance the summit is also home to near a hundred archaeological sites and many traditional cultural properties eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. “

http://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indigenoustraditions/sacred-lands/sacred-lands-mauna-kea/

     Faith Voices standing in public witness for justice throughout the land should not ignore the Faith Voice of Hawaii’s host people, the Kanaka Maoli, seeking to protect their most sacred site in all Hawaii. They are simply saying Respect the Sacred. Sacred is sacred. TMT is too many telescopes dominating sacred Mauna a Wakea.

Mahalo for your consideration and solidarity,

Jim Albertini

Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org

For a deeper look at U.S. racism in Hawaii, please see “From Charlottesville to Mauna Kea” http://malu-aina.org/?p=4856

Excellent speakers on various aspects of issues  July 20, 2017 at Hawaii Community College

Isaac “Paka” Harp on illegal military occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Dr. Lorrin Pang, MD on medical dangers of Depleted Uranium (DU)

Ruth Aloua, an impassioned appeal for activism to stop the bombing of Pohakuloa and to protect people, plants, and animals, air, land, and water.

Speaker Series on Pohakaloa email contact OccupyHiloMedia@yahoo.com facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OccupyHilo https://www.facebook.c…

AFGHANISTAN

Graveyard of Empires!

Trump Proclaims

Full Speed Ahead into longest war in U.S. history

16 years and no end in sight

With Trillions of dollars spent on war by the U.S. over the last 16 years, with millions of lives lost, country after country destroyed and turned into chaos (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, etc.) resulting in increased hatred against the U.S., Trump has announced he is going to expand U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. The only winner will be the U.S. military-industrial complex. What happened to the “No More Intervention” Donald?  Looks like he has been made to heel by the more-war neocons, his cabinet of Goldman Sachs bankers and generals surrounding him.

Stand up! Speak up! No More War!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
   4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
   5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.

Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org

Sign up on our website to receive our posts  http://www.malu-aina.org/

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet August 25, 2017– 831st week – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

U.S. Racism on Display

     Recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia put on full display blatant racism, hate, bigotry and violence by white nationalists carrying Nazi and Confederate flags. One person was killed and many injured when a white nationalist rammed his vehicle at high speed into a crowd of counter protesters.  President Trump, like many whites, is in denial about the great racial divide in the U.S.

     Donald Trump on Tuesday in a press conference at N.Y. Trump Tower, appeared to backslide from previous scripted comments condemning racism, hate and violence. Even David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, thanked Trump for his “honesty and courage” in his most recent comments. In short, Duke is grateful that Trump failed to condemn white supremacist terrorism.

     Trump really appears to be going over the edge. He has brought us to the brink of nuclear war. There is growing tensions with China, Russia and Iran. U.S./North Korea tensions remain high but appear to be on hold for the moment. Trump is now threatening military action with Venezuela. What next? Meanwhile, he is cutting environmental regulations meant to curb climate disaster. He is gutting public education, and going backwards in many other areas – immigration policies, health care, prisons, human rights, etc.

Racism in Hawaii!

     Hawaii’s Tourist industry likes to portray Hawaii as a melting pot – stir fry of people and cultures with a special emphasis on flavor – using Hawaiian culture to “sell Hawaii.” But look deeper and hard facts emerge. Hawaii’s host people, the Kanaka Maoli, are number one in very disturbing areas: poverty, homelessness, most imprisoned, health problems, shortest life expectancy, etc.

The true history of Hawaii is kept hidden. Hawaii is really an independent nation – the Hawaiian Kingdom, not the 50^th state of the U.S. There has been no lawful government in the Hawaiian islands since 1893, when the U.S. military invaded and began a prolonged illegal occupation that continues to this day. There is no treaty of annexation of Hawaii to the U.S. It’s all a fraud, a house of cards.

     A striking example of racism in Hawaii concerns Kanaka Maoli’s spiritual/religious/faith beliefs and particularly Hawaii’s sacred mountain – Mauna Kea. Today, the summit area of Mauna Kea is dominated by 13 telescopes and there is major conflict over the proposed building of a fourteenth –the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) 18 stories tall. Many Kanaka Maoli are saying respect our most sacred site. Sacred is sacred. TMT is Too Many Telescopes. Here’s the point. Buddhists don’t try and dictate to Christians what should go on in their churches and cathedrals. Christians don’t try to dictate to Buddhists what goes on in their temples. But how come, Christians, Buddhists, etc. are trying to dictate to Kanaka Maoli what takes place on their most sacred mountain? I dare say, it’s arrogance of the worst kind, it’s dollars put before the sacred, and at it’s core – racism. It’s time to make things pono (right), from the bottom up and the top down. Respect the sacred! No TMT.

Stand with Kapu Aloha – Nonviolence!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
   4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
   5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.

Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org

Sign up on our website to receive our posts  http://www.malu-aina.org/

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet August 18, 2017– 830^th week – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office