I can NOT even believe this!!

I can't believe that these police officers got acquitted. It's completely infuriating. If you don't know about this case you should check it out.

Following Acquittal of NYPD Officers in Sean Bell Killing, Advocates Call for Special Prosecutor in Police Brutality Cases

In New York, a coalition of civil rights advocates are calling for a permanent state-level special prosecutor to handle police brutality cases following the acquittal of three NYPD detectives in the killing of Sean Bell. The twenty-three-year-old Bell died in a hail of fifty police bullets on the morning of what would have been his wedding day in November 2006. Two of his friends were also injured in the shooting. All three men were unarmed.

Bye Bye Jeremy

Our friend from Belgium has left the islands. I guess we'll just have to drown our sorrows in Chimay...

Kokua!

Today was the first day of Kokua Fest! David, Angelica, Jeremy, and I headed down and met up with Tony who was our awesomest parking angel ever.
The afternoon started with bocce ball. I'd never played before, but I was pretty sure from the beginning that my favorite part would be throwing the target ball and standing as the location flag. Of course I was right!

It was especially fun to make all kinds of faces while they threw the ball.

As for me, I have less and less of a problem with the fact that I am easily entertained (for the most part). It seriously could not have been a more perfect afternoon. The temperature was perfect, there was a great breeze, the music was great, people were wonderful... what more could you ask for??

oh yeah, you could ask for Angelica's cookies and a kava smoothie... check!

We played more bocce (a boys game and a boys vs. girls game) At first, David couldn't be stopped, then Andy and Rahul came in and cleaned up. Gotta love the shit talk. I actually played for real once and it was fun, but I still prefer being the target thrower and human flag.

And even though there was rain and rainbow's all day long, we only got actually rained on once - lucky for us the Erin/Aren's were there (prepared as usual) with a big green fort for all of us to fit under.

We even got the treat of the moon rising from out of diamond head.. sweet. We almost had Tanner convinced that it was going to erupt before the moon actually popped out... there was quite a glow.

After the concert was over, the cops came by scattering the trouble makers, but since we were clearly a well-behaved family group, we were left un-molested. Everyone checked out pretty early, but DnA and I stayed for late spooning followed by a nice full moon rock formations stop. Best Kokua so far!! can't wait for next year!!!

Volcano!

Kilauea is brewing!!! If I get to see either Kilauea or Mauna Loa erupt while I live here, I will feel like my study of geology will have been justified.

check out the observatory.. AND the webcam they put up at Halema'uma'u - it's especially cool at night.

Lilikoi!

I found this on my stairs when I cam home today! I love LILIKOI!!! They just might be my favorite tropical fruit.

just when I thought the obesity stat was crazy..

David sent me this link ...

Baby with 2 faces born in north India

Doctors say infant with rare condition is doing well

SAINI SUNPURA, India - A baby with two faces was born in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess, her father said Tuesday.

The baby, Lali, apparently has an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces. Except for her ears, all of Lali's facial features are duplicated — she has two noses, two pairs of lips and two pairs of eyes.

"My daughter is fine — like any other child," said Vinod Singh, 23, a poor farm worker.

Lali has caused a sensation in the dusty village of Saini Sunpura, 25 miles east of New Delhi. When she left the hospital, eight hours after a normal delivery on March 11, she was swarmed by villagers, said Sabir Ali, the director of Saifi Hospital.

"She drinks milk from her two mouths and opens and shuts all the four eyes at one time," Ali said.

Rural India is deeply superstitious and the little girl is being hailed as a return of the Hindu goddess of valor, Durga, a fiery deity traditionally depicted with three eyes and many arms.

'Leading a normal life'
Up to 100 people have been visiting Lali at her home every day to touch her feet out of respect, offer money and receive blessings, Singh told The Associated Press.

"Lali is God's gift to us," said Jaipal Singh, a member of the local village council. "She has brought fame to our village."

Village chief Daulat Ram said he planned to build a temple to Durga in the village.

"I am writing to the state government to provide money to build the temple and help the parents look after their daughter," Ram said.

Lali's condition is often linked to serious health complications, but the doctor said she was doing well.

"She is leading a normal life with no breathing difficulties," said Ali, adding that he saw no need for surgery.

Lali's parents were married in February 2007. Lali is their first child.

Singh said he took his daughter to a hospital in New Delhi where doctors suggested a CT scan to determine whether her internal organs were normal, but Singh said he felt it was unnecessary.

"I don't feel the need of that at this stage as my daughter is behaving like a normal child, posing no problems," he said.

Maybe I should have a better attitude about exercise..

I just heard on Democracy Now! that only 3 out of 10 Americans are at a normal weight. They were talking about how the 1 billion obese people out number the poor people and help drive up food prices. Here's a small excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: Raj Patel, you write in the beginning of your book, “Our Big Fat Contradiction,” that “the hunger of 800 million happens at the same time as another historical fact: that they are outnumbered by the one billion people on this planet who are overweight.” Talk about that contradiction.

RAJ PATEL: Yeah—well, I mean, it’s a contradiction actually that you see everywhere. I mean, you see it in the States. I mean, the US is the most obese country on the planet. There are only three in ten Americans are now at a normal body weight. And at the same time last year, about thirty-five million Americans went hungry at some point last year. So this contradiction between hunger and obesity is worldwide.

And in the past, we had a situation where the rich were fat and the poor were thin. Today, because our food comes from the sort of industrial market of highly processed food that extracts value from poor farmers and gives us processed, highly fatty food, a sort of fast food, as convenience food for people living in cities. Well, the upshot of that is that you’ve got both poor people who are going hungry and poor people who are predominantly overweight. I mean, it’s a sad contradiction that today in the United States the lower your income, the more overweight you’re likely to be.

Yikes.

Pretty

When I got to work on Monday, Ann had a surprise for me! A while back I had asked her if she could make something for me out of a ring I had bought off of ebay but couldn't wear. I told her I'd trade her for treatments and here it is! I love it love it love it!! I want to war it all the time and feel so happy about myself with it on. I love having crafty friends who are better than me (doesn't take toooo much.. *grin*)!

I've been showing it off to everyone I know.

Now all I need is for her to tell me when I can poke her full of needles!