The Courts are the Way to Go

An appellate court in Hawaii just reversed the decision that granted Makila Land Co. ownership of lands in Kauaula Valley above Lahaina (See this article in the Maui News for more information). This is good news for both the Kapu ‘ohana (who claim rights to the land granted to their family with the Kuleana Act […]

The Guilt Redemption Cycle and Dove’s "Campaign for Real Beauty"

This is a paper I recently wrote using Kenneth Burke’s concept of the guilt-redemption cycle to analyze the effectiveness of Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” Burke drew on popular narratives in religion to analyze what makes effective rhetoric; to see what works in motivating people to action. Guilt, purification, and redemption are popular themes in […]

The Unclear Policy on Race in the Courts

In light of the lawsuit against Kamehameha School’s, I’ve taken an interest in the 2003 lawsuits against the University of Michigan. While there certainly are differences, the greater policy area of these cases (of affirmative action and racial consideration) are related. In 2003, the Michigan’s undergraduate admissions policy was found to violate the constitution for […]

Kamehameha Schools

The Kamehameha School’s in Hawaii were created from the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Paki Bishop, a Hawaiian monarch. She left much of her estate for this purpose to be executed by trustees whom she selected. The school is well known in Hawaii and is widely considered to be of high academic standards, but its […]

Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes

It’s an intriguing bi-line for a book about law in Japan. I just read the book review from the Japan Times and the author of the book, “Law in everyday Japan: Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes,” Mark West, appears to prupose an interesting thesis regarding the dynamism of courts. Within these diverse areas of social […]

Can Hawaii run out of sand?

Apparently yes. Comments on “Like Sand in an Hour Glass” by Ilima Loomis for the Maui News. This story took me by surprise. I had never though of the sand on Maui as a precious and limited commodity; I’ve always just thought that it was there. However, much of Maui’s sand is shipped off to […]

お鮨を食べます

This is a funny short about how to eat sushi according to strict Japanese rules. Study hard!　　がんばって下さい！鮨のえいが Click on the link and then click on the picture of the sushi.

Click Me Irony

Comments on “Google Blacklists BMW.de” by Tom Espiner on http://www.news.comThe irony in this can be seen by reading just the first few lines of the story. The story is about Google punishing BMW’s German domain site for breaking the rules by boosting their rating within Google’s search engine in order to increase their site’s page […]

The vulnerability of Polynesia

Comments on “Trouble in Paradise” by John Braddock for Dysfunctions on ocus.netBeing from Hawaii, news from around the rest of Polynesia has always been of significance to me. This blog is about the turmoil of strikes and marches in Samoa, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Tonga, and Fiji. While events of such happen in other countries around […]

Inspiration for the New Year

Comments on the article, “Why do I love online publishing” by Robert Niles, editor of USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review. Robert Niles talks with a few leaders in the idustry about why they love online news. The passion with which they describe working with online news demonstrates a greater passion for journalism as a whole […]