Pacifica

by on November 27, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Pearl Harbor was the reason ambitious politicians overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii. They knew America could control the Pacific from that harbor, and so they took it. And the American military that still used that harbor during the Second Great Depression was not in favor of turning traitor against their country and going native when Hawaii sought to go its own way. They remained fundamentally American with a stubbornness that is admirable, and their chain of command all the way up to Washington was mostly intact. Which was why Admiral Nakamura knew the supplies they had in Hawaii’s supply depots were all they had to survive on. He also knew China was expanding and Pearl Harbor was the lynchpin of American defenses in the Pacific. It had to remain standing. So Washington ordered him to support Hawaii and the people at anything short of outright rebellion, but to mind the ultimate duty to defend America at all costs. That forced the admiral to perform a rather delicate dance between that duty, and cooperating with a growing sovereign movement in Hawaii. It was a good thing for everybody that Admiral Nakamura was an accomplished dancer.

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Pacifica

by on November 26, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Hawaii had one great complication during the Second Great Depression. It was a major naval base and the largest critical depot for American naval operations in the Pacific. They had everything from weapons and ammunition for the military to tents and packaged food for disaster response in the many warehouses scattered all over the islands. Those supply depots were an invaluable resource for Hawaii, if they could access them. The problem was that the United States Navy secured most of those depots. Or the Marine Corps. Even the Air Force and Army had their toes in the pie. The problem for Hawaii was that these were all National units. Hawaii’s State Guard was extremely small, while the vast majority of those stationed there came from the Mainland. They answered to the President of the United States, not the Governor of Hawaii. Governor Mahana needed those supplies to keep her islands running as long as possible, but she couldn’t order them to give her anything. That started a rather delicate dance between her dreams of Hawaiian sovereignty and cooperating with the very patriotic American Armed Forces scattered throughout her islands. It was a good thing for everybody that Governor Mahana was an accomplished dancer.

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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

by on November 25, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I watched Mister Rogers this weekend. I grew up watching his show, and it really does feel like I got to see him again this weekend. Tom Hanks did a very good job nailing his mannerisms and voice. The movie begins and ends with the beginning and ending of the TV show, and we see many scenes from it all through the movie, all acted out by Tom Hanks. And in the credits we see an actual scene from the actual show. It took me longer than I want to admit to realize that.

The main meat of the movie is based on the real life story of a reporter tasked to do an interview of Mister Rogers, and of course he doesn’t believe the guy really is as nice as he seems. And Mister Rogers spends the movie talking to him, on and off, just the way he does to all the children he talks to everyday. And that shows the secret of the show that made it work. Because as Mister Rogers talked to the children, he also talked to the adults watching with them. He talked to us about our feelings, about how to express them, and how to face them. How children deal with them, and how adults deal with them. And how we deal with forgiveness.

It was a good movie. I loved it. I got to see Mister Rogers again.

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Pacifica

by on November 24, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

One issue Hawaii had during the Second Great Depression was insufficient production of critical products. Hawaii had been dependent on imports of everything from food to military supplies for generations. It didn’t have enough land to grow food, and it didn’t have enough industry to support the economy. The economy collapsed. There is no other way to describe what happened when so many tourists stopped flying to Hawaii. And food shipments from the Mainland dried up as well. One thing they did have going for them was a veritable wealth of fish in the oceans, and their fleets set sail every day to provide the basic essentials their people needed to live. The boats kept their people from starving, but many Hawaiians became utterly sick of food that came from the ocean. Steak and hamburger have been luxury foods on the islands ever since. Seafood in Hawaii is in highest demand by the tourists now. Most natives would rather eat something that grew up on land, whether that land is natural or one of the many manmade islands scattered throughout Hawaii.

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Pacifica

by on November 23, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Governor Mahana proved extremely popular as she took Hawaii deep down the path into sovereign territory as many other American States were doing. If the Federal Government could not pay its bills, the States had to step up. Some failed to do so and chaos reigned. Hawaii succeeded, and many soon began using a name out of history. The Kingdom of Hawaii. Governor Mahana did not partake in such grandiose pronouncements, but she also did not seek to stop the name’s usage. And as she won election after election over the years and decades that followed, people slowly began to call her Queen Mahana. In the end, the State Legislature modified the State Constitution to make it official. The Kingdom of Hawaii lived once again, and it drafted Governor Mahana to serve as its first new Queen. And as Hawaii built colonies throughout the stars, it became the Star Kingdom of Hawaii, with Queen Mahana at the helm until the day she chose to retire. Yes, she chose to retire, and that set a precedent for the Queens that would follow.

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