I was fortunate to have had Kahuna Nui Lani as my teacher for the last few years of his life. He was a gentle, but powerful man when I knew him, which made the stories told by some of his earlier apprentices about a young Kahuna Lani seem preposterous. But they weren’t.

The Lani I knew and loved reminded me of Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi: a powerhouse unrecognized but by a select few…..a phenomena I did not (and still don’t) understand. I was well aware that Lani could, at any moment, reduce me to a pile of ashes, but I also knew that he would not. That it escaped most people never ceased to amaze me. The mana that flowed from him was almost tangible.

It always offended me to see people patronize such a grand man, but it never fazed Lani. He took it in stride, realizing their innocence in their ignorance. I’m not there yet, but as I mature, I feel it shifting. I have a ways to go yet.

I’ve been on a shamanic path for over 25 years. I am an herbalist, a natural health practitioner who knows the importance of vitality in our foods, but loves a good cheeseburger and an occasional pipe of tobacco. Life is too short not to enjoy the pleasures offered here on this earth plane. Remember: We are immortal souls having a human experience.

We are here to polish our souls, to move towards graduation into Aumakuahood. If this doesn’t make sense, may I recommend an excellent book? Mine! Lol…..It’s called Signposts on the Path: A Hunian Guide to Navigating Life. It’s not exactly light reading, but we’re here to answer your questions!

Or you could take our Alanui Course. Learn who you are and why you are here. Take the Kalo course and have a chat with your Higher Self  aka Aumakua aka Utterly Trustworthy Parental Pair…..The One who is always with us, always there when we call on Them but must be invited to take part in our lives. If you didn’t know about your Aumakua, how could you invite It to take Its part in your life?

How can you ask your Aumakua a direct question? With practice, patience (with yourself) and persistence, you, too, will be able to have a conversation with your Aumakua, get their opinion and advice…… as long as you have a deck of cards. It’s like having a telephone to your God-Self by the time you complete the first level. The second level course teaches you how to use a standard poker deck or any deck of cards and how to sharpen your memory.  The third level, the most advanced – so advanced it’s still evolving – is when it really gets cool……Need to speed up time? Slow it down? I’ve done both. Once I did them both at the same time, but that’s another story.

This is the kind of stuff you will learn through Huna. Pretty important stuff, if you ask me.

Huna is cool. Huna Rules!

Enjoy. Live. Love. Remember to laugh a lot. Have a good time!

Aloha,

Kahuna Ulana

this way addicts fate digital world …

• If you had twins:


Copy - Paste

• I hope when I grew up like this:


Often Copy-Paste

• If you do not have a girlfriend:


SEX with CPU

• Agreement to love:


Discussion

• How to make girlfriend happy:


give a flower

Is there ever experienced it? :rotfl:

Not only has Uncle Barry proven to be no more friendly to the Bill of Rights than his predecessor, he is proving to be even worse than his predecessor in a lot of ways, and government intrusiveness is one of them.

Read this one and weep.  If this proposal is enacted, no longer could the government of the United States be said to be significantly less intrusive than was the old East Germany.

If this sort of person has the ear of the president of the United States, and apparently he does, we’re all in more trouble than we realize.

Scott

====

Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal
By Glenn Greenwald
Salon

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/01/15/sunstein/index.html

Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.”  In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-”independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government.  This would be designed to increase citizens’ faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists.  The paper’s abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.

Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.”  He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government).   This program would target those advocating false “conspiracy theories,” which they define to mean: “an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.”  Sunstein’s 2008 paper was flagged by this blogger, and then amplified in an excellent report by Raw Story’s Daniel Tencer.

Below is a post from Scott Bidstrup (scott@bidstrup.com) about yesterday’s tragedy at Ft. Hood. It is symptomatic of the huge mental health problem of the entire United States, not just the military.

We have forgotten who we are and the emptiness is now eating us alive – literally. Re-remembering takes effort, not a quick fix. The Big Pharma is quite content to keep people doped up. They’re easier to control most of the time.

The Huna courses – Ke Alanui e Pono ia o`Huna and the Hunian Tarot (Kalo) Course can help you re-member who you are and your purpose for this current lifetime.

Contact us for information.

Aloha and a hui hou

KU

All,

The incident yesterday in Ft. Hood is symptomatic of a huge mental health problem in the U.S. military that is being swept under the rug by handing out powerful psychotropic drugs like they were candy, with no regard for the long term consequences or underlying problem.

Post traumatic stress disorder is becoming so common, it is affecting more than 20% of the troops, yet the primary response has been to do what Big Pharma suggests they do – just give ‘em drugs to cope.

That doesn’t solve anything, it simply postpones the inevitable.  And this incident is evidence of the consequences of not doing anything responsible to address the problem of mental health.  The shooter yesterday had become depressed and neurotic as a result simply as a result of dealing with the problem among the troops, seeing them deployed and then coming back at the end or their tours, in much worse shape, to be prepared for deployment again.  Imagine what the troops themselves are coping with.

Scott

====

Mass Shooting Indicates Breakdown of Military

by: Dahr Jamail, t r u t h o u t | Report

http://www.truthout.org/11050912

…According to an Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center analysis, reported in the Denver Post in August 2008, more than “43,000 service members — two-thirds of them in the Army or Army Reserve — were classified as nondeployable for medical reasons three months before they deployed” to Iraq.

Mark Thompson also has reported in Time magazine, “Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of US troops taken last fall, about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.”

In April 2008, the RAND Corporation released a stunning report revealing, “Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan – 300,000 in all – report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment.”

President Barack Obama, speaking during an event at the Department of the Interior in Washington, said that the mass shooting at Fort Hood was a “horrific outburst of violence”. He added, “It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil.”

Victor Agosto, an Iraq war veteran who was discharged from the military after publicly refusing to deploy to Afghanistan, has had firsthand experience with the SRFC at Fort Hood, where he too was based.

“I knew there would be a confrontation when I was there, because the only reason to do that process is to deploy,” Agosto explained, speaking to Truthout near Fort Hood . “So the shooter clearly intended to stop people from deploying.”

Agosto was court-martialed for refusing an order to go to the SRC to prepare to deploy to Afghanistan.

“I was court-martialed for refusing the order to SRC in that very same building. I didn’t enter the building, but I didn’t go in because I was refusing the process,” Agosto continued. “It’s a pretty important place in my life, so it’s interesting to me that this happened there…”

It was a three hour drive through Northern Virginia to Silver Spring, Maryland (no ‘S’- apparently there’s only one spring that’s sliver in Maryland. My MapQuest search for Silver Springs nearly fried the computer.) I was amused by the irony of searching out west for the very thing that is here close to home.

This would be my third healing within the past 12 months. The first one was not thorough, although I am certain that work is fine for some. The second one was ludicrous. Because I had been let down by the first two, I wouldn’t allow myself to get overly excited. Ironically, they all cost the exact same.

Maybe it was me. Maybe I was in a different place. I had started 20 years ago with a teacher who promised to teach shamanism, but delivered a cult. Then I met Lani and learned so much from him. Three days before he died, he promised to teach me how to communicate with plants and animals and spirit (the Hunian Lore of Clairesthesia). I had been asking for that for 7 years, but the Institute course never came to fruition. Lani finally realized it was never going to happen and agreed to teach me privately. Then he went and died.

Two years later, my health had deteriorated (had nothing to do with my lack of exercise or horrible eating habits). I knew I needed help and I knew I wanted to pick up where my work with Lani left off.

I found Caroline Kenner in Sandra Ingerman’s list of Shamanic Practitioners. I wrote and asked her simply, “would you be willing to do a healing and then teach me to journey?” That was my introduction.

She responded quickly and we set up an appointment for the coming week.

Meanwhile, I continued feeling worse and worse. The headaches that started when I arrived on the East Coast were intensifying; my stomach felt as if I had swallowed a lit candle, my ankles hurt, and my body was stiff down to the bone. There was no fever, so I did not think it was the flu (this would be verified in the healing). I was really hoping I would feel decent enough to make the drive to Maryland.

Fortunately, Monday I felt perfect! Tuesday, was a repeat. I had done the House Blessing and attribute most of it to that.

We arrived about 20 minutes early, enough time to take Sally for a walk. Caroline and I had a brief meeting before the walk. The connection was instantaneous I knew this was going to be good. It was like reconnecting with an old friend – one I hadn’t seen in several lifetimes. She is the only person outside of Huna who has seen the spirit of my necklace of Kukui Ho`ola au Aumakua. I was impressed!

After getting Sally settled, I went inside. Caroline was upstairs finishing up an earlier appointment which gave me time to look around. The living room and healing room were filled shamanic tools. It was charged with a wonderful energy! Each stone was vibrating, every picture alive. Everything had a purpose and knew what its purpose was.

The Hunian Kalo Lore is not a form of divination or fortune telling. There is interaction, questions and answers, full disclosure on the part of the quester. The Kalo is a direct line of communication with the quester’s Aumakua. The Kahuna is just the cord between the two. If someone is there to see if it is real or really works, then the reading will not be as beneficial as if they had been open and arrived with an attitude of ‘knowing’ that the Kalo is ‘real’. I decided to take this approach with Caroline and the healing.

We talked. Actually I talked, Caroline listened. I went with my intuition and told what felt appropriate.

Then she had me lay down on the floor. She sat beside me and the process began.

She was directed by her guides to lay stones around me and on my stomach. She told me that she would be singing, rattling and drumming. Lots of singing, she said. She kept being directed to use more stones. She sang and began rattling over my stomach area. And she abruptly stopped.

“How is your digestion?” she asked. In this instant I knew that she knew what she was doing. I had not mentioned my digestive issues not because I wanted to see if she would discover it, but because it never occurred to me to bring it up.

“Lousy” I laughed and told her about the burning sensation and the fact that I knew things were not good. I told her I suspected liver issues since I had been waking up at 3 am with a headache for quite a while (3 AM in Chinese medicine and according to the circadian clock indicates issues with the liver; so do headaches).

She went back into trance and rattled over my liver for a time. I felt something being pulled out. I knew when it was completed a split-second before the rattling changed calling her back to this level of reality.

Caroline asked me if I was still drinking (another detail I never thought to mention). I laughed and told her I have been sober for about 25 years. She said, “That’s why it left so easily. He could have put up a lot of defenses and fought, but he didn’t. He was disgusted and wanted to get out.”

Another check indicated clogged bile ducts and gall bladder problems. She was concerned that the bile duct was clogged. For a minute, I thought she was going to tell me something horrible, but she didn’t. I told her GB issues were no problem, that as a natural health practitioner, I knew how to take care of that and would do a gallbladder cleanse which would clear up any stones that may be present.

TO BE CONTINUED

Ho’omaika’i! Maui GMO Ban wins passage, 9-0 at final reading today!

Thanks to the persistent and reasoned call from the public — people like you — in support of protecting Hawaii’s beloved taro Maui’s county council members found it easy to make the right decision. Mahalo nunui for standing up to be heard.

From our friends on Maui:

By now I know many of you have heard the good news, but for those who haven’t – Maui County is now gmo taro free! The ban passed 9-0 in its Second and Final Reading today, repeating its First Reading vote but this time without hesitation from any council members. The Mayor has said she will sign the bill into law. Unprecedented support from all!

Imua!!

Here is an excerpt of the article published in the Maui News:

Council approves ban on GMO taro
By MELISSA TANJI, Staff Writer
Maui News October 3, 2009

WAILUKU – A bill prohibiting genetically modified taro in Maui County received final approval Friday by the Maui County Council.

On September 18, the bill to ban genetically modified taro unanimously passed First Reading in Maui County. Congratulations, Maui!!  Second and Final reading on this extremely important bill will be coming up this Friday, October 2nd.

From friends on Maui:

Ban on GMO Taro for Maui County–we’re almost there! Take part in this historic action and express your support!

If you have a chance, take a few minutes to call and talk to Council members Baisa (270-7939), Pontanilla (270-5501) and Molina (270-5507) before Friday.  Thank them for their yes vote and urge them to do so again.

Also let Victorino (270-7760), Mateo (270-7678), Kaho’ohalahala (270-7768), Johnson (270-5504), Nishiki (270-7108, and Medeiros (270-7246) know we are behind them and to keep the bill strong — no compromises.

The enforcement issue is one that can be resolved.  There are no excuses for this not to pass.  No changes between the last reading and this one will mean it is straight up, easy vote.  Keep it simple and sweet.  Let’s see a 9-0 vote again!

Testimony can be sent in by email (county.clerk@mauicounty.us) or come and join us in person.  If you can’t make it to the hearing, keep support for the kalo in your sights this week.  If you don’t want to speak – bring a kalo plant to show support.  Stay focused on what is important – protecting Hāloa.

Keep envisioning this bill passed without changes – for all kalo and effective immediately!

From us guys at KAHEA: Mahalo pumehana to the Maui community for all their good, hard work and their passion and care for Hāloa. There is no question that you are making a tremendous difference. We urge all who are about Hawai’i and who love their poi (!) to show their support by sending in testimony to the hearing on Friday! Please take a second also to forward this alert to friends and ‘ohana!

Some of the things offered by the Fellowship include house blessings (home sanctifications), exorcisms, Firewalks, courses that teach people how to commune directly with their Aumakua through the Kalo using a Tarot or poker deck, working with Bach Flower Remedies (self guided course), and praying for others in the Great Ritual Prayer of Huna every night.

The Great Ritual Prayer, which Max named the Telepathic Mutual Healing Group (TMHG) is the heartbeat of Huna. Max was its first moderator. It is the most powerful prayer and we have seen miracles happen. When Max died the TMHG nearly died with him. Max had acted as if he would never die and failed to train anyone to moderate it. Lani recovered this great prayer, passed on the station of Haku Pule (moderator) to me with the Po`e Aumakua’s approval. I have moderated the TMHG daily since 2002. The more people there are praying this prayer in the Hunian way, the more powerful it becomes.

We are not New Age nor are we New Thought, but our foundation is partly based on what Max Freedom Long called “New Thought”. We are shamanistic.

Huna is not something you can learn in a weekend seminar. We have developed a monthly training program which guides you through a series of processes. With a good foundation you will be able to make your own decision whether to continue on this Path or seek new vistas.

This is not between us and your god; it is between you and your god, however you perceive God. There are many goddesses and gods, but there is only one Creator. All the gods are made from Oiai`o (God/Goddess) and Oiai`o seems to like different religions a lot!

Last Thursday, the bill to ban genetically modified taro on Maui (09-100) was passed from the Economic Development, Agriculture and Recreation Committee to the full, nine-member County Council. Even after receiving hundreds of e-mails in support of the bill (From you guys! Thanks & keep it up!) and listening to passionate testimony, the committee was unable to reach a decision.

The mayor stated in a letter to the committee that she does not support a ban against taro due to the issue of unenforceability because there are no “reputable scientific tests” to distinguish between natural and GM taro.

Instead, Tavares said she preferred committee members defer the bill until the council, her administration, state lawmakers and federal and state agricultural officials find a solution.

“I don’t get these lamebrained excuses about enforcement,” said longtime Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte of Molokai.

Medeiros’ bill would make it illegal for any person to test, raise, grow, transport or release genetically engineered taro. The penalty would be a petty misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and 30 days in jail.

Lucienne de Naie of the Hawaii Sierra Club said a law in itself can be a powerful deterrent.
Dr. Lorrin Pang, the Maui District health officer, said there are plenty of people in Maui County who would volunteer to help enforce the law, including himself. Genetically modified taro can be distinguished from natural taro, he said.

To read full article click here.

Please contact Mayor Tavares and tell her what you think about GM taro enforcement! (808) 270-7855; Fax: (808) 270-7870.

The date is not yet set for the meeting to make a decision on Bill 09-100 but the council still needs to hear your support for this bill! Council members that still need  some swaying include Michael Victorino, Gladys Baisa, Joseph Pontanilla, Michael Molina and Council Chair Danny Mateo. Please take a few minutes out of your day to contact the council members and voice your support for the GMO Taro Ban bill. 

Michael Victorino- michael.victorino@mauicounty.us Ph : (808) 270-7760
Fax: (808) 270-7639

Gladys Baisa- gladys.baisa@mauicounty.us Ph : (808) 270-7939
Fax: (808) 270-7127

Joseph Pontanilla- joseph.pontanilla@mauicounty.us Ph : (808) 270-5501
Fax: (808) 270-5502

Michael Molina- michael.molina@mauicounty.us Ph : (808) 270-5507
Fax: (808) 270-5508

Council Chair Danny Mateo- danny.mateo@mauicounty.us Ph :  (808) 270-7678
Fax: (808) 270-7717

Jo Anne Johnson-  jo_anne.johnson@mauicounty.us Ph: 270-5504

Sol Kaho’ohalahala- sol.kahoohalahala@mauicounty.us Ph: 270-7768

Bill Medeiros- bill.medeiros@mauicounty.us Ph: 270-7246

Wayne Nishiki- wayne.nishiki@mauicounty.us Ph: 270-7108

Please contact them and Ask them to support Bill 09-100 and help protect kalo from genetic modification. Your phone call or e-mail could help to extend the shield of protection for kalo to one more county.

In the Kalo (Hunian Tarot), the 2 of Pentacles is the card of balance. It means something in your life needs to be brought back into balance. Since it is it the suit of Pentacles it often refers to your finances.

The cool part about the Hunian Kalo is that there are three levels. The first level is the study of the Rider Waite Tarot deck with Hunian interpretations. After this level is completed, the next level involves a standard poker deck – regular playing cards. This level gets a bit tricky as each of the 52 cards has a peg word and visual meaning that must be memorized for a reading to make sense. At that point, any deck of cards can be used to have a conversation with your Aumakua.

The peg word for the 2 of diamonds (diamonds correspond with pentacles in the poker deck) is Dune. The visual description of this card is “Falling into the image of a sand dune. Maybe a slight feeling of dizziness, maybe my chair settles a little. A chair in hot sand….moving to keep it in balance.” Similar, but different from the 2 of Pentacles.

Lani and I used to argue about which deck was best. He said I was married to the Tarot cards and I was. He liked the poker deck and would do readings every day at his favorite restaurant (whichever was the favorite restaurant of that day). Everyone thought he was playing some kind of solitaire. The Tarot cards draw a different kind of attention from curious passers by.

It wasn’t until Lani introduced me to the third level, the Kumu level of the Hunian Tarot that I fell head over heals in love with the Poker Deck. The Kumu level is the most advanced level, not just because it’s the third one, but because after you become immersed in the study of them, the cards begin to become transparent and become pukas into the world of spirit. There is one card that can speed up time and another that will slow it down. They work! I’ve done it.

There’s no better way to teach trainees about conservation and sustainability, than to have have them out in the fields doing front line conservation.  That’s why the Green Collar Jobs Training Program offline sustainability trainees are spending more time at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center in Keaukaha. With the amount of time they spend there, they should be expert sustainable kalo farmers by the time the summer opportunity for work experience ends on July 24, 2009.  Not only that but the skills they (as well as the online sustainability trainees) gain over this summer will make them more appealing to employers, and hopefully help them get jobs when they need it!

The online sustainability trainees spent their day at the office in the Hawai‘i Innovation Center in Hilo. There they continued to refine their blogging, video editing, and online sustainability skills. With program in its fourth week of existence, online trainees have enhanced their skills on the internet, as well as their skills in computer applications such as iMovie, flash, and fireworks.

Woohooo!!! I just did a Communion Kalo reading asking for my Aumakua’s general opinion ….. and the reading was GREAT!! They hear my requests and are doing their part, as are we! I LOVE being able to have a 2-way conversation with my Higher Self.

Hunian Tarot or Kalo is absolutely NOT fortune telling. I mean no disrespect to other forms of Tarot readings, but within the last month, everyone who has told me about their (non-Hunian) Tarot readings was told they are going to meet their long lost love and live happily ever after. Well, I suppose that could be true since everyone’s being told the same thing (on two coasts, mind you). Maybe they’ll find one another and hook up.

Kalo readings don’t work that way. A Communion Reading like the one this morning was just a “check up” for me, a “How am I doing, Dude**? Anything I need to know?” **Note: My Aumakua and I have a special relationship that has developed over 56 years. I do not recommend anyone call their Aumakua “Dude” until the two of you have reached a level of comfort so that it would not appear disrespectful to your Aumakua if you called It Dude.

The Fellowship Kalo Course will be completed in a couple of weeks and I highly recommend you learn how to do readings for yourself, ie take the course. There is too much crap out there, too many charlatans, too many spirits posing as Ascended Masters, guardian angels, wise old souls, etc. and many of them are simply pissed off dead people who refuse to move on. Remember: just because someone is dead does not necessarily make them smart!
In a Kalo reading there is always an opening and closing that protects the reading from other entities butting in, but not other Aumakuas also making comments.

Aumakuas will NEVER tell you what to do, even in a Kalo reading. They may give you a heads up about an oncoming train and suggest you get the hell off the track, but it’s ultimately your decision.

They crack jokes. They have a wonderful sense of humor, but they can be deadly serious. It just depends.

With the training program about to come to an end in less than a month, the online crew members started helping Green Collar Technologies with its client work. Using the skills they gained over the last few weeks, workers will help promote a company in Boston, MA by managing blogs and increasing search engine optimization. If all goes well, the income made from these client jobs will be used to fund the sustainable efforts of Green Collar Technologies. As Brent says it, “To put gas in the tank.” Trainees also got to talked with some of Brent’s colleagues, Cooper and Faizah, who will also give workers classes on some of the ins and outs of online sustainability (such as geo-mapping, twitter, flash, etc.).

The offline sustainability crew continued laboring at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center, again working with Joe Bernabe. They are out in the center grounds, refining their kalo farming skills.  It seems repetatitive, but giving the workers more time at the center will allow them to fully understand the hard work and rewards that come out of these types of sustainable jobs.

In this very difficult economy, the unemployment rate has only been rising, but there are many green collar jobs and sustainable options out there!  These opportunities can help you gain income, save money, and improve the environment.  It’s a win-win situaiton for everyone!  The only problem is that people don’t know much about green options and the sustainability movement.  This is what the Green Collar Jobs Training Program is trying to do; Educate the next generation about sustainability and green options.

After a long day in Mountain View yesterday, the trainees spent this day working at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center, once again doing maintenance on the kalo fields.

We at the Green Collar Jobs Training Program can’t over emphasize what an amazing plant kalo is and why it is so useful in terms of sustainability. Unlike other agriculture plants, all the parts of kalo (from the corm to the leaves) can be used, and for centuries kalo has been a staple food for both traditional and contemporary Hawaiians. Cooked, boiled, steamed, fried, and mashed, kalo has been an ingredient in generations of family recipes. Everyone’s favorite dish laulau uses the leaf of the kalo plant, although other kalo influenced dishes such as poi and squid luau might be a more acquired taste for some. However, the underlying fact is that kalo exemplifies self-sustaining stewardship. If you care and nurture kalo, the crop will grow and provide many benefits. It’s the most basic and most important concept that the Green Collar Jobs Training Program is teaching its trainees. While laboring at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center the workers are learning that “If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you”, and it’s exactly this sense of harmony that the sustainability movement in general hopes to achieve.

Kalo patch at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center.

In terms of the current economy, growing your own food such as kalo isn’t a bad idea either. Joe mentioned that during graduation season, kalo leaves become a high commodity for parties and people pay a lot of money for crop. He suggested that people should really think about growing their own patches. Kalo is very low maintenance has a high turnover rate (1 adult can produce 5 offspring), and you can save money on party expenses while also being self-sustainable. Not a bad idea, especially in this difficult, current economic crisis.

Back at the Hawai‘i Innovation Center the online crew also had a learning experience. Brent gave a short lecture on the concept of creating websites for companies and getting paid for it. Some trainee caught on more than others, but the main idea is that there are a lot of opportunities on the Internet that can help you pay the bills. You just have to take the time and effort to consider these opportunities.

Daily Lessons and Tips:

1. It you take care of the land, the land will take care of you
2. There are many opportunities on-line to make money. You just need to take the time and effort to consider them.

Now in a regular routine, the Green Collar Jobs Training Program offline sustainability trainees are at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource center in Keaukaha refining their knowledge of and skill with kalo.  Under the supervision of Joe, the workers spent much of their day tending to the fields on the center grounds.

Workers maintaining the kalo fields.

Dominic getting rid of the unwanted weeds.

Similarly, the online sustainability group continued their daily routine of uploading blogs, editing videos, and promoting the program.  Followers of the program and brought some suggestions to attention.  While viewing the some of the blogs and websites they found it difficult to load the pages because the photos on these pages were unnecessarily large.  As a result the online trainees are working to resize and reload photos so that the “People of Puna” can also see the efforts of the Green Collar Technologies Program.  Lastly workers started a letter to the County Council to raise their awareness of Green Collar Technologies, in hopes to educate, promote, and build a more sustainable Hawai‘i Island.

Just another beautiful day on Hawai‘i Island!  The offline sustainability trainees worked at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center again with training supervisor Joe Bernabe.  On the center grounds they weeded, havrested kalo, separated the different stages of kalo and prepared more kalo for planting.

Joe essentially assisted the trainees by reinforcing their  knowledge of kalo with some cutting, sorting, and replanting lessons. The whole process of preparing the taro, in general, pretty much involves cutting off the roots and using the stem for re-growth.  The offline sustainability group pretty much has gotten the routine down, since this is about their third visit to the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center to work in the kalo fields.

Joe Bernabe and trainees clearing the center grounds.

Green Collar Training Program worker Dylan sorting kalo.

Back at the office in the Hawai‘i Innovation Center the online training team continued to update the websites, blogs, images, and videos.  They too have gotten very acclimated to the daily online tasks and online sustainability.

i have started a new approach to planting in our garden: since the bugs keep eating our plants, even the fairly established ones, i am just planting lots of seeds.  previously, i would plant one per sprouting-pot or one per container, but now i am just dropping seeds all over the garden (and in some specified little pots so i can remember what’s what!).  for example, we had three thriving collard plants and then they got eaten quite suddenly, now we have only one sickly plant and that sucks.  so i planted about 30 collard seeds over the past few days, and hopefully with 30 plants we can still eat our greens when some of the plants get eaten by bugs.

since some of the sprouts have gotten tall enough to transplant, i put them in bigger pots to let them grow individually. here is some progress with the plants. the photos in the first row are about a week or so old, and the last rows were just taken today, with most of the greens only about three weeks or so old.

most importantly, i have finally started using some bug repellents (organic stuffs of course)- because being gentle and talking with the bugs does not work. nor does wishful thinking.  while i generally don’t want to kill things… these nasty little creatures eat all my food dammit and it makes me mad!  kales, beans, herbs, lilikoi: nothing is safe from the slimy creatures.  while salt and dr. bronners soaps kill them instantly, it is not preventative. i learned recently that crushed red pepper works like a ‘ring of fire’ around the plants, but since there has been so much rain the pepper has gotten moldy and is attracting fruit flies. i also tried neem oil, which worked amazingly on the aphids infesting the kalo plants and seems to have gotten rid of some of the cabbage moth worms and cutworms.  it does not however, deter slugs from munching the plants.  after expressing my dismay with my efforts so far, my friend recommended sluggo, which is a bait to kill slugs and snails, and…. amazing! no missing leaves, no new slug trails, nothing hurting! it’s like a whole new era in backyard farming!

now it is possible to try lettuces, more and more greens, and in lots more locations around the yard.  good stuff

At the beginning of Week 3 the Green Collar Jobs Training Program brainstormed the goals for the upcoming week. For the online sustainability crew goals included gaining more web traffic, followers and subscribers. The tentative goals for the offline sustainability crew were to prepare the classroom in Mountain View by harvesting bamboo and koa for the trimming, and to paint the siding.

However, the Green Collar Jobs Training Program trainees go where the work is needed and after the morning collaboration the offline crew ended up the Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center to plant kalo.  Workers also had to prep the soil with the same 103010 and chicken manure mix that was used at Moku’s farm.

The University of Hawai‘i Hilo Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resource Center.

Leroy and Dylan planting kalo.

After taking a short lunch break, the offline sustainability group moved to another greenhouse to plant kalo. There the workers tilled the soil and fertilizer mix manually and planted kalo corms into the newly turned ground. When that was done they covered the plant crop with mulch to increase the kalo’s chance for successful growth. Trainees also took the time to inspect the kalo that has been previously planted.

The look Green Collar Job Training Program workers will give you
if you talk about not being sustainable!

Trainees manually tilling the soil with pitch forks.

Workers (from left) Riana, Dylan, Dominic, and Leroy spreading mulch.

As if they hadn’t done a lot of work that day, the labor group also made a trip to Mountain View to pot more kalo at the Green Collar Technologies classrom. It was a day full of work and lots of achievements in the world of green collar jobs and sustainability practices and opportunities.

Leroy potting kalo in Mountain View.

Dylan and Leroy prepping the kalo.

Organized piles of kalo parts.

Today the offline sustainability trainees where thrown another curve ball and rather then working at the Earthship in Nanawale they headed to the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center in Keaukaha to work with Joe Bernabe. Joe taught trainees the basics, such as how to identify and pick kalo.  Throughout the day he guided the workers as they spent much of the day harvesting kalo and prepping crop for transplanting.

Joe showing trainees how to handle kalo.

As with any garden, weed and pests also need to be controlled, so trainees also spent much of their day weeding the kalo patches.

Leroy, Dominic, and Dylan weeding, while they pick kalo.

Back at the Hawai‘i Innovation center the online crew continued to blog and video edit.  Many of the applications and hosting websites are new to the online trainees or are very unfamiliar, so they’re taking time to learn the ins and outs of the programs they are using.  In time they will get the hang of it, but now it’s just trail and error, and the ocassional help of YouTube tutorials.

In Mountain view the offline crew began planting kalo in the raised rock beds.  Basically for the rest of the work day trainess transplanted kalo from their potting containers into the patches they completed earlier. They also watered the crop using rainwater collected in buckets placed around the property.

Dominic, Dylan, and Leroy planting kalo in the raised beds.

Kalo is a great plant to work with because not only does it add aesthetics to the property, but also allows for greater self-sustainability by allowing you to harvest your own food crop. Furthermore, working green collar jobs and living more sustainably can be rewarding for both you and the environment. If you are interested in increasing your sustainable practices or learning about green jobs check out the Green Collar Technologies Site to gain more information about classes, green jobs and sustainability on Hawai‘i Island.

Before and after workers planted kalo.

Lessons and Tips of the Day:

1. It may be common sense, but wearing protective gloves may save you from the uncomfortable feeling of a decent sized splinter logged deep in your finger (as one of our workers found out the hard way).
2. Kalo is a useful, self-sustaining plant.
3. Rain is a natural occurrence, thus rainwater catchment is a great, self-sustainable investment.
4. Green collar jobs and living sustainable is rewarding for both you and the environment!