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posted by David Apperson
The elevator was too slow in descending twenty floors to the tower lobby. Peter Sweeney thought another bad thought about the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. But his complaint about the Otis elevators was secondary to the livid anger he felt about the fifty dollar charge which was going to be levied against him for departing his room two hours after checkout. Paying six hundred dollars a night, per room, and he had three, was no small deal over the course of a week. The writer's convention had been a wonderful success, but that did little to lesson his anger. The doors opened and he hit the lobby, walking fast to where the concierge desk was located. An ebullient Japanese woman was on duty. She was a terribly cute butterball of a little thing, who Sweeney liked, but that did not deter him.
"They're charging me a fifty dollar late checkout fee for staying in my room until my flight's ready on Tuesday," he began. The woman, who's name tag read Malani, looked up from her sitting position across the desk with wide open eyes of surprise. "This is not fair and I want that charge waived!" Sweeney demanded, his uncommon emotion causing the young woman to blink and nod her head in agreement.
"I will call the management," she declared, reaching for the telephone. "i will speak to my manager, and even his manager, if necessary. I will get the charge waived. I completely agree and apologize. You are a very valuable guest and I will get this changed."
Sweeney deflated. He had nothing more to add, so he turned abruptly and went back to the elevators. Up in his room he changed into his best aloha shirt and long pants. He was to keynote the conference in half an hour. He rolled ideas around in his mind on how to begin his hour long talk. Nothing came to his mind. Once dressed, and properly adjusted using his full length mirror, he returned to the slow Otis machines. He was calmer on the way down, certain that Malani would take care of the idiotic late charge and put that problem to rest.
This time Peter approached the concierge desk more gently, more like his old affable self. He smiled at Malani. She got up from the desk and came around to meet him. Then she began to cry. Great tears coursed down her beautiful Asian cheeks. Then she began to sob as she talked.
"I could not get the charges waived. My manager said no, so I called his manager, who also said no. He said I would lose my job if I brought up the subject again. I am so very very sorry that I have failed you."
Sweeney stood rooted to the spot, unable to take the scene in fully at first. The woman cried on, tears falling down onto the front of her pink uniform. Unconsciously, he moved forward and hugged the sobbing woman.
"Its okay. Fifty dollars does not mean that much to me. I have plenty of money. I don't know what I was thinking." Slowly he released Malani, then stepped back.
"Really, its okay?" the woman said, her voice husky from crying.
Sweeney nodded, smiling a smile he did not feel. He felt more like crying, but turned to retrace his steps to the elevators instead. The Otis cage did not seem so slow on the way up to floor twenty. Once in his room he sat at the end of his bed to think. The incident effected him deeply. He was not the kind of man who brought hotel staff to tears. He hated such people. What had he done? He stared at the dresser before him. Atop the dresser sat the distinctive box of new Alexandre Dumas pen, made by the Mont Blanc Company. It had cost him eight hundred dollars, and that was on Ebay. He intended to give it to the Pulitzer Prize Winner who would be attending his keynote speech. He hoped to win his way into the man's heart, or at least get his attention.
Peter stood up. He approached the dresser. Then he moved quickly, grabbing the box and heading back to the lobby while checking his watch. He had only ten minutes to get to the Monarch Room to deliver his speech. The elevators seemed running in molasses until opening, once again, at the lobby level. He walked quickly back to the desk where Malani sat. She looked up with a return of trepidation in her expression. But Sweeney smiled, and then held out the box.
"Please accept this gift from me. I do appreciate you, your service, and what you tried to do on my behalf."
Malani arose, stepped around the desk and took the box into both hands. She opened it. A small sound escaped her lips. Then she stared up into Sweeney's eyes with a look of shocked adoration. She closed the box as she bent into a deep bow. Her hands, however, came up with box held up in front of her.
"Thank you," she whispered, "I will live up to the value of this gift."
Sweeney walked away, his heart lifting, the smile on his face turning into a real smile. The crowd applauded as he entered the Monarch Room, his introduction already provided. He took the extended microphone and stepped onto the stage. He looked out over the expectant faces of the new budding authors.
"Thank you," he said, "I will live up to the value of this gift." As he spoke he realized that a small Japanese woman working behind the concierge counter at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel had changed his life.
http://www.jamesstraussauthor.com
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Thomas Corinthian Martin made his way through the throngs of Waikiki tourists, all of whom resembled over weight and badly attired lemmings, drifting through paradise with no purpose, other than the accumulation of more local junk. Oahu. Outside of beaches, bars and crowded surfing holes, not really much to do. And he had his wife with him. The magnificent Mary. Five years of splendid marriage, wild sex and intellectual abandon. It was not supposed to be that way, he knew. Many friends and even family had shared their own tales of marital bliss...or the lack of them. Finding Mary at an obscure Northern Wisconsin college had been an act of wonderful serendipity. They had dated for three years, then married as war loomed. The war had been a singular disaster, and the hospital experience after even worse. But magnificent Mary had made it all worthwhile.
Thomas wandered down Kalakaua, Waikiki's main drag. He walked inside the acre known as the International Marketplace. If you wanted a custom Zippo lighter, or a lousy piece of jade, then the IMP was for you. Otherwise it was a bazaar of push cart 'carnies' all yelling for attention. Huge non-Hawaiian birds cawed loudly everywhere. You could have your picture take with one of them for twenty bucks, and maybe lose an ear.
He made his way back over to the grand entrance to the Moana Hotel. The place was magnificent. Had always been magnificent. Thomas had gone to school at St. Augustine, a Catholic elementary school run by the Maryknolls right down the street. The rebuilt church, which was the cornerstone of the school, remained an icon of meaningful culture isolated among the commercial nightmare of the rest of the strip.
The Maryknolls were gone. Gone to other assignments across the world. There was a convent for some of the nuns on the Windward side of the Island. He'd called and asked if he and his wife could visit. The answer had been a surprising, and warm, affirmative. Visiting the convent would be like going back in time, he had thought. Mary was a Catholic, as well. Her parents were old country Irish Catholic, but raised in Chicago. Visiting the convent would be good material to discuss the next time they were all together. That Thomas was a sort of fractured atheist had not escaped their notice.
The Moana had the rental car ready. Mary was there, in all her radiant beauty. They drove fast. The convertible Mustang only went fast, except when there were traffic backups. But there were none. The convent was austere, not looking like a convent at all when they arrived. It looked like a well maintained storage facility, but it did have a nice front foyer. Thomas seated Mary, then perused the list of nuns in residence. He only recognized one. Sister Gregoria. His dreaded fourth grade teacher. She had been an artist with wood fortified erasers. She could hit a student in the temple at forty feet with unerring accuracy, and she had carried a magazine of them fed up her left sleeve. Her use of the metal edged ruler was also a thing of creative beauty. He looked down at his scarred knuckles, as he pushed the button on the black panel. She would have to do. He smiled over at his wife, again thanking the God he didn't believe in for her existence in his life.
A female voice came out of the panel. Sister Gregoria was on her way. Her arrival was much more expressive than the facility deserved. A woman of about forty, wearing the great black robe of a Maryknoll nun swept around a corner nearby. The woman was radiant and smiling grandly. She extended her right hand as she advanced to meet them. Mary rose up to take it.
"Oh Mary, it is so good to finally meet you," the nun said. Thomas stood next to his wife and stared at the nun stupidly. He had come to see his fourth grade teacher. He had not let anyone know who he was, much less who Mary might be. The nun turned to him. He took her firm warm hand in his own.
"And you, Shadow, what are you doing here?" Thomas was dumbfounded, once more. He had not been called Shadow since his early elementary school days. His brother had been a big deal at the school. Thomas had gone everywhere with him. So he'd been given the nickname of 'Shadow.' His brother's shadow. He shook her hand. He was numb, trying to take it all in.
"Ah, this is my wife," He finally got out.
Sister Gregoria's eyes went back and forth between Mary and Thomas several times. "Extraordinary," she finally said, before sitting down.
"Why did you come?" she said, her voice near that of a whisper.
"I brought Mary to see the place and see if there were any of my old teachers left. How do you know her?" Thomas inquired.
He could not fathom that there was any plausible answer to his question. He had been in the fourth grade with Sister Gregoria. He had not returned to the island during the intervening years. Thomas had met Mary at a small obscure college in Northern Wisconsin. There just was no possibility that Sister Gregoria could know her.
Sister Gregoria sat silently for a full minute, before she spoke.
"That's not why you came here," she said. He just looked at her, not able to think of anything to say to that.
"You came here because of God. Mary is the daughter of my best friend. I went to high school with her mother. Since that time we've corresponded weekly by letters. While you were in fourth grade here, I was writing and receiving letters from her Mother. There is no coincidence that can explain this. This is not a one in a million circumstance. This is God, and He's sending you a message."
"Ah, I, I, ah, don't know what to say," He responded. Mary spoke for him.
"You're Sarah Fogarty, aren't you?" The nun nodded, with a tearful smile.
That he had been attending elementary school taught by the best friend of his future wife's mother, who had been writing letters to one another while he was in those classes, was just too much for him to take in. He could not have gone to that small college and have run into Mary by accident. How could that fit into his carefully constructed system of physics and logic? It could not. There were two thousand colleges in the United States. Thomas could have gone to any number of them. Mary as well. There were two thousand students at the college he did choose, and He could have taken up with over a thousand of other females there. He had met his future wife by accident. She had been the only one, among a table of five young women, who was shorter than he was. So, after asking the others, and having them stand and laugh at him, she danced. The rest is a history of serendipity. At least I had believed that.
Thomas sat down. His life was changed. Sister Gregoria was talking. His wife was talking. But he was thinking. His well grounded, vaunted, and much-buffered belief system in 'no-belief-in-God' was shattered. Sister Sarah was right. Not even the wildest odds maker could calculate the probability of what had happened. the odds were up there with the number of atoms in the whole universe. But what God? And why? And why him? Why Mary? Why Sister Sarah? Why any of it?
Thomas went out into the night, following his return from the Windward side. Sister Gregoria would not leave his mind. The International Market Place beckoned. Maybe he would buy a custom Zippo, even though he didn't smoke, or maybe some fake jade beads. If nothing was real then everything was real in this new world where physics and the sciences only allowed for surface explanations. Reality was cloaked, only small edges occasionally sticking out to cut and dismember comfortable belief systems.
The End.
I don't have any obvious answers. I have only the statement of outrageous serendipity to consider, as I have over the years. I am broken by God. Not to be fixed. I am lost in a vortex of swirling reality mixed with winds and currents I understand not at all. I am worse than a lousy Catholic. I am everything about the wavering doubting-Thomases whom the God of the Bible would vomit from his mouth and Kingdom. But then, although I cannot but believe in God (He made sure of that) I can't find any organized collection of men and women who believe in what this God has to be, that I can make sense of or get along with. And this God is one wild creature indeed. I don't believe He can be contained, or well described, by the documents of the Bible, purported to be His word. And so I run alone, in single harness, unaware of where I am going or what I am taking along with me.
Sister Gregoria (Sarah Fogarty) died today. Like Kennedy. With Kennedy. I look like Kennedy. I used to have to sign autographs for Japanese tourists in Hawaii, I look so much like him. What the hell does that mean? What does any of this mean? I am broken by God.
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I read the New York Times this day and was not surprised. On the left side, all the way down the front page, they began a story about protesting Catholic Nuns. There are about sixty thousand of them left out there in the world. At one time there were many many more than that. They, apparently, do not wear the revealing (and respect demanding) habits of the past. I kind of knew that from somewhere, but it hit home with this article. The substance of the article was about how the leadership of the Catholic Church (read Pope Ratso) is opposing the Nuns because they have kind of gotten together to argue against a few idiotic things still supported by the Roman Catholics of Rome. They oppose, for example, the required celibacy of priests. The Pope is still big on this malformed and unsuccessful doctrine. And it is not, or at least I do not think so, that the sixty thousand remaining nuns are simply horny and want all those priests for their own. No, I am afraid that the nun's logic is more factually grounded (however fun it might be to think otherwise). It seems that, over time, the celibacy thing just has not worked at all. Priests have been out there screwing just about any human they could get their hands on for many many years. The Catholic Church is currently paying out billions in reparations because of the failure of celibacy among its priests. It seems that the pent up sexuality of these guys has led them to exploit young boys under their care. But the payouts have not fazed Ratso. He contends that celibacy works and must be kept in place. All priests must be male and they must not have sex. The male only thing is another piece of studied stupidity that the nuns oppose.
I was raised a Catholic and went to Catholic schools all the way up through my undergraduate degree in college. My elementary school nuns were the most noteworthy of my teachers. It was Hawaii right after the big war. The nuns at St. Augustine Elementary School, just off Waikiki, had just returned from surviving the entirety of WWII in Japanes prison camps. Those nuns were in no mood to take any garbage from elementary school children. Later, I was to train and then serve in the United States Marine Corps. The Corps had nothing on those nuns. My D.I., SSgt. Baines, could not have gone one round with Sister Michael Marie (a.k.a. Sister Joseph Louis), much less the dreaded Sister Gregoria (called the 'Flying Black Axe' for reasons unknown).
I am a writer today because of those nuns. I miss their disciplined learning techniques. Techniques no longer applied to school children anywhere. I learned the ABC's, how to decline a sentence, phonics, and the Chicago Style Manual of English. I learned them by trial and error, and the studied application of attentive pro-active pain. Those nuns did not have to strike often. They used a form of willful psychology and parental support no longer existent within the confines of our culture. I learned to speak in front of groups and to overcome embarrassment and failure. I got a C Plus in English at the end of 5th grade. And I still write very regularly to Sister Michael Marie and Sister Gregoria. In fact, when my book was recently published, I sent Sister Michael Marie a copy of the book (lovingly inscribed) and a copy of my fifth grade report card. I high-lighted the C Plus I received in English with a yellow marker, to point out the error of her conclusion. That was a month ago. I got a letter yesterday. She sent me the report card back with a note stuck to it. "You have improved" it said, and there was B Plus written in red over the crossed out C Plus. She also noted a few grammatical errors in the final production hard-cover novel! I suppose that is why I, and my publisher's editors, did not get an A.
The Catholic Church has not supported nuns in any way for fifty years. The older ones live in near poverty under poor conditions in run-down care facilities. The few younger ones do not even get habits to wear. They are allowed to work for the Church for free and get by as best they can. It is a shame. The value those women provided to millions of children across the world goes unrewarded and barely even thanked. Yes, they did it for the love of God, but come on! The Catholic Church is run by men. By White old men living in splendor inside stone chateaus. They are just like human leaders everywhere on earth. There is no difference, and there is about the same level of compassion exercised and exhibited toward those whom worked to put and keep them there, as exists in the civilian world outside.
I loved those nuns and tried my heart out for them. I did that because I knew, down inside, near the bottom of my little well of souls, they wanted the best for me. I really believed that they wanted me to succeed and enjoy life, and a good measure of bliss. They wanted me to be successful, simply because, well, in their prayerful and hallowed way, they loved me. They loved God above all, and then all the children in their charge. They still do. Their belief in me, and my belief in them, sustains me to this day.
The numbers of nuns are dwindling rapidly, as the older ones die off and no new ones come aboard. This is part of the design of the Catholic Church. I do not know why. Maybe, like most male leaders everywhere, Ratso and his Italian Mafia fear women. I just don't know. But I lament their passing. They have been a force for good and love out here, across the surface of this troubled earth. Those nuns left now deserve honors and a great retirement. The young ones, the few, deserve our endearing support...financially and emotionally, because it is good for us all. I am not much of a Catholic anymore, but I know a good thing when I experience it. I love those nuns, and you should too.
As President Obama recently related to me regarding local service; "Now is our time to work together, reaffirm our enduring spirit, and choose our better history."
It is our responsibility as Americans to vote, and vote we must. And now is the time to prepare for the next election. I invite all citizens of Hawaii to post a message on the Hawaii Election Blog.
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During the first 100 days of the Obama presidency we have seen outstanding leadership in tackling the many issues facing our great nation. And it seems that overwhelming poll numbers indicate that America agrees with President Obama. see THE WHITE HOUSEThe question remains; What can we as fellow Americans do to help our neighbors and countrymen? Included are nine things you can do to help the President celebrate his first 100 Days in office:1. Donate unused suits to the Salvation Army2. Donate time to Americorps3. Donate toys for children at Toys for Tots4. Donate blood at the Red Cross5. Donate a can of food each week to a Local Shelter or Food Pantry6. Donate money to Save the Children7. Donate time at local a Veterans Hospital8. Donate an hour a day to your Child9. Donate to the Make a Wish FoundationParticipation is greatly appreciated. What you do for the least of our brethren, you do for yourself -http://donate.barackobama.com/page/community/post/president/gGxWJh
Barack Obama First 100 Days posted by David Apperson
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Presidential Inaugural Address Delivered by President Barack Obama on 20 Jan 2009
My fellow citizens -I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate. Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.This is the price and the promise of citizenship.This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.President Barack Obama
My fellow citizens -
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
President Barack Obama
Presidential Inaugural Speech - A message for all peoplehttp://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/president/gGxHqT
source: David Apperson, webmaster
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Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
Hawaiians for Obama - Barack Obama Groups
December 7, 2008
President Elect Barack Hussein ObamaPRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICATHE WHITE HOUSE1600 Pennsylvania AvenueWashington, D.C. 20500Dear Mr. President Elect:
On behalf of all Hawaiians everywhere, we send you our warmest and most heartfelt congratulations on your election as President of the United States of America. Mere words cannot begin to convey the joy, the optimism and the intense sense of pride we collectively felt at the moment your victory was announced. Although most of us could not be with you in Grant Park on November 4th, our spirits soared as we listened to you humbly accept the honor and the responsibility of serving as the 44th President of our nation.From the moment you stepped into the public forum, we recognized in you the true embodiment of the Spirit of Aloha. The nation remarked on your strength of character, your quiet intellect, your wisdom and your spirit of peace. The media called you unflappable. We saw in you the trait most needed to guide us and lead us as one people through difficult yet promising times, He po`i na kai uli, kai ko`o, `a`ohe hina pûkoa. (Though the sea be rough and deep, the coral rock remains standing - You are the one who remains calm in the storm).
We have for so long yearned to share with the world the Spirit of Aloha. Most of us never dreamt it would be possible. In you, however, we know that spirit was nurtured and will now serve you and our nation well as you represent us on a global stage. We are proud and we are joyful. For us, you are so much more than the President-Elect, you are Mai Ka Lani Mai (Heaven sent). You are Hawai‛i’s native son. You are our ohana.
No matter what the future holds for you, for all of us, you will always have the support of your ohana. Our spirits are entwined with your spirit, your joys are our joys, your successes are our successes and when trials come remember, with ohana, your trials too are our trials.
`A`ohe pu`u ki`eki`e ke ho`â`o `ia e pi`i
(No cliff is so tall that it cannot be scaled - No problem is insurmountable when one works hard to solve it)
Aloha and mahalo nui loa for the sacrifices you have chosen to make for all of us, Hawaiians for Obama,
Gerald W AshtonDavid AppersonTeresa ArcangelMaría Julianna AuzenneElizabeth BalaoVictoria BatesGail BreakeyTeresa BurkertJeri Lynn EndoRebecca EstradaCarolyn GolojuchLisa HolmesJohnny HuckabyBruce JuselisKelvin KinteCarole KuwaharaArni MaddoxAnita Di MauroSamuel MitchellJeff McKnightNedra McKnightDaryl MuromotoLisa ReyGerry Jayte TavaresBonnie WalkerAroha WalshEliza WalshMakana WalshMichael Walsh Email hawaiiansforobama@barackobama.com
