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  • Hello, from Berkeley, CA

    hi! i'm john and i'm from berkeley. (hence the user name) you can find me as johnfromberkeley on most places around the web, but i am johnholland on twitter.

    i actually have lived in the san francisco bay area all my life, and berkeley for 25 years now. by day, i live in the dotcom world, and most recently was the founder of an internet startup.

    i grew up with parents that had a love for hawaii. they took us on several trips when we were kids, and the worked hard to expose us to the four major islands, and their significant features. the view of hawaii they presented was slightly the idealized, western mainland view, but it was filled with deep appreciation, and not just an attitude that hawaii is a big playground.

    as an adult, i've visited the hawaii frequently, and with each trip, i have become more and more aware of the complexities of hawaii, rather than the idealized hawaii. for sure, i enjoy seeking out the "bests". but i also have enjoyed getting to know ordinary hawaiians, both natives and transplants.

    i am especially concerned about issues that hawaii faces: environmental, economic, political, etc. being from berkeley, i have recently adopted a pretty radical view of hawaiian independence. i realize there is no return to innocence, but i do believe hawaii was "stolen", and not fair-and-square. i realize i am ignorant, and probably naive, about the issue. but i am sympathetic to the independence movement.

    recently, i launched a blog about hawaii: johnfromberkeley on hawaii: musing on paradise from the mainland. i originally envisioned it to be a place where i would share my favorite off-the-beaten path secrets of hawaii, but lately it has taken a bit of a political bent. don't worry, i'll get back to food and beaches before too long.

  • #2
    Re: hello, from berkeley, ca

    Welcome to HT, John from Berkeley. An interesting blog you have and I look forward to exploring it, even if I am much less politically inclined. After twenty years here, I've developed less sympathy for those who grouse about Statehood (after 50 years!).

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    • #3
      Re: hello, from berkeley, ca

      Aloha, John. Go Bears! I was a Cal student in the mid to late 80s, and totally enjoyed myself. Well, except for the climate shock of living in a place where seeing your breath in front of you is normal. Man, that first semester was cold and wet. My feet weren't truly dry for three solid months. Heading back to Honolulu for Christmas break was such a relief, it was almost surreal.

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      • #4
        Re: hello, from berkeley, ca

        Preface: Grew up in Hawaii, then took off with the first wife to Cali.
        I lived in Berkeley for a while on Sacramento Ave. near 'The Homemade Cafe'.
        Totally enjoyed the coffee shops and of course 'The Berkeley Square'.

        Of what you query... there are many different points of view.
        Straight up. It wasn't right what happened to Hawaii.
        Reality. It is the 50th State of America.
        Resolution. We'll see.

        Oh yea, and welcome to HawaiiThreads!
        Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

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        • #5
          Re: hello, from berkeley, ca

          wow, everybody. thank you for the warm welcome. i feel a little awkward since i don't live over there, especially since i really put myself out there.

          i'm looking to learn. i have already read some great things around the difference between hawaiian nationalism and hawaiian ethnicity. i was not aware there ethnicities other than hawaiian that signed the petitions against annexation.

          i also agree there's no "return to innocence". hope i can listen carefully in the more appropriate forums!

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          • #6
            Re: Hello, from Berkeley, CA

            Having lived here for several years now (but I will ALWAYS be a malahini), I am hanging back. Watching what the arguments are.

            Over here on Kauai, I think we've got a different thing going with the Atooi nation.

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            • #7
              Re: Hello, from Berkeley, CA

              At that particular time in history, wasn't someone going to take Hawaii? Japan maybe? The Soviet Union? I really think that if the US hadn't claimed Hawaii that some other country would have. It's position was just too important not to.

              Not saying that the way it was taken was right, just saying I seriously doubt Hawaii would have remained independent. And who knows what impact that would have had on the world, good or bad.

              By the way- howzit, John. Welcome to HT!

              Can't think of anything creative this time

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              • #8
                Re: Hello, from Berkeley, CA

                It not only "wasn't right", it was illegal - by International Law, US Constitution and in violation of treaties in place between Kingdom of Hawaii & US. Hawaii has been an occupied land since 1893. and there are international laws to follow for an occupation also which the US has not adhered to.
                "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
                – Sydney J. Harris

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                • #9
                  Re: Hello, from Berkeley, CA

                  Gooooooooooooooo Bears! (Same optimism at the beginning of each season, probably same disappointment at the end of this season). I'm an "Old Blue" from 1967, during "the troubles." Lived at the corner of College and Derby.

                  Berkeley is just like Hawaii...sort of. Just get one of those little blow up palm trees and put it on your kitchen table and think 80F temps, blue water, and pretty wahines. That should do it!
                  Peace, Love, and Local Grindz

                  People who form FIRM opinions with so little knowledge only pretend to be open-minded. They select their facts like food from a buffet. David R. Dow

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