11 Imaginary Republican Enemies That Could Give Bigfoot A Run For Its Money

December 5, 2013, 5:45 am

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There is no hard evidence that Bigfoot exists, but that hasn't kept cable television networks from feeding the American public shows happy to pretend it does. Same goes for Megalodon, a gargantuan prehistoric shark that the Discovery Channel claimed was still alive in a Shark Week "documentary," despite the fact that all scientific evidence suggests it has been extinct for more than a million years.

In this way, some Republicans have become the cable TV execs of lawmaking. From in-person voter fraud to fetus snacks, conservative politicians around the nation have aggressively pushed legislation focusing on things that don't really exist, at least not in the way they want you to believe they do. Like shows that promise to find Bigfoot (but never quite do), or "Megalodon: The Monster Shark That Lives" (but not really), the GOP's offerings might be laughable, if not for their far more serious consequences.

Below, 11 Republican enemies that are about as real as Bigfoot:


1. Devious election thieves

Supporters of controversial GOP-backed voter-identification measures that have cropped up around the nation regularly claim that such laws are needed to protect the integrity of elections, which they suggest is under constant attack by an onslaught of people attempting to commit voter fraud.

Nobody denies that protecting elections is important, but voter-ID laws claim to do so by focusing on a largely nonexistent threat. In-person voter fraud, which could be deterred by forcing voters to show various forms of identification, just isn't an issue. Since 2000, there have only been 10 recorded cases of voter impersonation. With 3,313 Bigfoot sightings in 92 years, you're far more likely to spot a Sasquatch than witness in-person voter fraud.


The name's Harry Henderson and I'm here to vote Democratic.


2. Gay couples trying to ruin your straight marriage

Allowing same-sex couples to get married does exactly nothing to the bonds formed by straight nuptials. And if, against all odds, gay marriage somehow does ruin your marriage, we hate to break it to you, but you and your spouse's problems extended far beyond a shared desire to deny marriage equality to gay people.



"All your beaus are belong to us."


3. Creeping Sharia

Wait. Did you hear that? Oh sure, it could have been nothing -- but it also could have been Islamic fundamentalists seeking to implement their religious laws in an effort to slowly seize control of the nation from the inside!


I'm crazy?!?! Crazy like a fox!

This increasingly institutionalized brand of Islamophobia has come into favor in the past five years, manifesting itself in a variety of ways around the political arena. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has been a vocal proponent of this paranoid crusade, warning against what she's painted as a dangerous Muslim influence in the Obama administration and local court systems around the nation. Republican lawmakers have also sought to address this supposed threat -- of which there has yet to be any evidence -- with legislation designed to prevent religious law (read: Sharia) from being considered in court.

With all of this in mind, perhaps it's fitting that Bachmann often sounds like someone trying to explain their alleged Bigfoot sighting.


4. Taxpayer-funded abortions

Under the Hyde Amendment, taxpayer dollars can't go toward abortion services, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Despite its illegality under federal law, the term "taxpayer-funded abortion" has been tossed around by anti-abortion activists for years, frequently under the guise that these procedures are a regular occurrence that must be stopped.

Taxpayer-funded abortions don't exist, however, and some have argued that millions of women are at risk because of the refusal to allow these services to be covered by public insurance plans. In many states, conservatives have enacted additional harsh restrictions on abortion coverage in private insurance plans as well. In the most extreme cases, women aren't able get abortion coverage through either public or private health insurance plans, even in cases of rape or incest.

While some insurance plans offered through certain federal or state exchanges do cover abortions, that part of the insurance is covered by a separate rider, making the plans compliant with the Hyde Amendment.


5. ACORN

ACORN was a community anti-poverty organization tasked with registering voters and lobbying for affordable health care and housing. We use the word "was" because it doesn't exist anymore. It folded in 2010 after being targeted by a GOP-led assault launched in response to a heavily edited, but nonetheless devastating, undercover-investigation documentary by conservative provocateur James O'Keefe, who posed as a pimp for the project.



This is how real pimps dress, right?


The fact that ACORN is defunct hasn't gotten it removed from the GOP's list of enemies. House Republicans have voted to defund the already defunded organization more than 10 times since it disbanded. The threat ACORN poses to society is quite literally imaginary, but some people apparently didn't get the memo.


6. "The War on Christmas"

It's that time of year again, when conservatives and Fox News -- and especially Sarah Palin -- are getting ready to pounce on any suggestion that politically correct liberals might be encroaching on your freedom to loudly celebrate consumerist Christmas without giving a shit about other religions, or the separation of church and state.


This is what Santa thinks about your holiday!

Texas launched a preemptive strike in this "war" earlier this year, when Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed the "Merry Christmas" bill. The measure allows public school teachers to use holiday-specific greetings and imagery in their classrooms, as long as the winter displays include more than one religion or secular symbols.

While teachers groups panned the effort as a waste of time designed to address a nonexistent problem, other states sought to build on the momentum with legislation of their own. Tennessee and Alabama have both considered similar bills, though neither has made it very far.


7. Pop-Tart gun control

When 7-year-old Maryland boy Josh Welch got suspended from school for two days after chewing his Pop Tart into the shape of a gun earlier this year, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) knew he had to act.


You call that a gun?

Stockman responded by introducing the Student Protection Act, a bill that sounded hard to disagree with. It was designed block federal funds for any school that enforced rules punishing students who played with imaginary weapons. Welch's punishment was surely idiotic, but was it really the type of isolated idiocy that needed to be fixed with federal legislation? No. No, it wasn't.


8. Drug-addled takers

Republicans across the nation and in Congress have championed legislation that would require applicants for welfare, food stamps and unemployment benefits to submit to drug testing. While the public would rather see the lawmakers themselves get drug tested, the legislative push against people on government programs is seemingly operating on the assumption that most of them are just a bunch of lazy, drug-abusing moochers.


This is how Republicans want you to see welfare recipients.

Interestingly enough, however, the legislators themselves haven't really tried to make that argument, and when they have, they've largely turned to anecdotal evidence and hearsay in the absence of concrete studies that suggest people on public assistance are actually more prone to drug abuse.

In 2012, a study of Florida's welfare drug testing program, since used as a model for a number of other states, found that it had been a failure. Only 2.6 percent of the state's welfare applicants failed their tests, most commonly because of marijuana use. Because the state was required to pay for all of the passed tests, it ended up netting a loss of $118,140 on the initiative. In Utah, a similar program caught only 12 drug users. Proponents argued that more had dropped out of the application process, likely because they were drug users who were afraid they'd fail the test.

While people who use drugs while on public assistance aren't entirely a figment of Republican imaginations, there isn't a reason to believe there is the sort of epidemic that many complain about. They, like Bigfoot, have become a bogeyman that serves as more of a perceived threat than a real one.


9. Socialist Muslim Obama and his Kenyan birthplace

President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, which, for anyone that might still be confused, is a part of the United States.



Speak American, ya damn islands!


During Obama's first term, Republicans across the nation were giddy to jab the nation's first black president with suggestions that he was a foreigner and therefore illegitimate. Republican state lawmakers in a number of states pushed initiatives determined to force any candidate (read: Obama) to provide "an original long-form birth certificate" to get on the ballot. Obama eventually released his, a ridiculous move that did very little to get his critics to take off their tinfoil hats.

And if the deliberate refusal to accept Obama as an American isn't enough, Republicans have gone the extra mile to insist that Obama is a secret Muslim. For many, the president's religion doesn't really matter, but according to his own words and practices, Obama is a Christian. That hasn't convinced all Republicans, however, as polling has showed that around a third of those on the right are still convinced Obama practices Islam. And for those who still maintain that he's some sort of Socialist, we encourage you to consult real Socialists.


10. Fetus snacks

In 2012, a GOP state lawmaker in Oklahoma introduced legislation designed to ban aborted human fetuses in food. It would have been a pretty sensible idea, if there had actually been any evidence of fetuses being included in food in the first place. He said he'd based the bill on an article he'd read online and apparently misinterpreted. The misguided legislation thankfully went nowhere.




11. Human-animal hybrids

A few years back, Republicans concerned that scientists were keen on creating half-men-half-monkeys pushed a number of state laws banning human-animal hybrids. The laws enacted broad restrictions on scientific research, most forms of which weren't being practiced anywhere, much less in the United States. While some forms of DNA mixing have been used in various stem-cell experiments for therapeutic purposes, the apparent fear of a full-fledged hybrid monster of any sort was never real.

Cable TV is also fond of pretending that human-animal hybrids exist. Animal Planet released a pair of fake mermaid documentaries earlier this year, deliberately misleading viewers into believing that there was actually any evidence whatsoever of the mythical creatures' existence. There wasn't, but that didn't stop the network from pulling in huge viewership numbers.



And hey, why let the truth get in the way of a good piece of bullshit?

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Report: Regional Economic Integration in Southeast Asia an Opportunity, Not a Threat, for Global Trade System

December 5, 2013, 6:35 am

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At the World Trade Organization's biennial Ministerial Conference this week in Bali, Indonesia, one of the issues that trade officials will be grappling with is how to integrate the proliferation of regional trade agreements into the WTO's global trade framework.

Against this background, economists Peter Petri and Michael Plummer argue in a new East-West Center publication that WTO leaders should not consider proposed trade deals in the Asia Pacific region as a threat, but rather as an opportunity.

Petri and Plummer conclude in the new policy study, "ASEAN Centrality and the ASEAN-US Economic Relationship," that Southeast Asia has become a focal point of Asia's rapidly changing economic architecture. They note that the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are becoming increasingly stable and politically confident, and constitute an emerging economic powerhouse.

As a result, Petri and Plummer write, ASEAN is becoming a much-courted economic partner. Within the next few years, ASEAN could cement intra-regional cooperation through the planned ASEAN Economic Community and establish a wider Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with 16 members, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. Some ASEAN member states will also play prominent roles in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a high-standard trade agreement initiative involving 12 economies on both sides of the Pacific, including the United States.

"The term 'ASEAN centrality' has been coined by member nations to underscore how internal cohesion can be used to advance economic progress within the region and to manage relations with external partners," Petri and Plummer write. "ASEAN centrality is often seen as a benchmark both for regional integration and for shaping external relationships with partners such as the United States. Centrality is desirable not only for the region, but also for most external partners--a vibrant, integrated ASEAN makes a stronger economic partner and a more reliable political ally."


The question for the United States, they say, is whether it can deepen its engagement with ASEAN, while also respecting the region's quest for centrality. "ASEAN is a key strategic and economic partner of the United States, and its importance is projected to rise over time," they write. "For example, U.S. investments in Singapore alone are twice those in China. But the United States has resisted an ASEAN-wide free trade area based on relatively weak rules acceptable to all ASEAN members. In turn, U.S. efforts to develop rigorous relationships with selected ASEAN countries have been criticized as disrupting regional cooperation. Some welcome the American presence as a guarantor of regional security, but still prefer to leave economic policy to ASEAN decision makers alone."

To reconcile ASEAN centrality with regional economic interests, they say, ASEAN member states can be expected to follow a two-speed strategy. On one hand, they will want to maximize their own economic potential through close ties with external partners. On the other hand, they will need to intensify integration within ASEAN and support less advanced members in becoming more competitive in the global marketplace.

From the viewpoint of the United States, they say, the two-speed approach argues for recruiting individual ASEAN members into the TPP if they are ready to assume rigorous obligations, while engaging ASEAN as a whole in policies that support capacity building, connectivity and reform.

Petri and Plummer project that the regional gains from ASEAN centrality, the RCEP and the TPP would be considerable. Completing the ASEAN Economic Community alone would increase regional GDP by more than 5 percent, they project, with all member countries registering gains. The RCEP, TPP and other wider external agreements could contribute significant additional gains.

The TPP in particular should generate large benefits for ASEAN as a whole, they write, especially if it were expanded from the current four Southeast Asian participants (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam) to also include Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. They estimate that ASEAN's total gains would be three times as great under the TPP as they would under the RCEP, since the TPP provides for deeper integration and preferential access to large new markets, while the RCEP overlaps an already complete network of free trade agreements between ASEAN and other members.

They emphasize that:

"ASEAN policymakers should not be misled by the argument that they must choose between the RCEP and the TPP, since both produce gains. Moreover, these benefits are complementary -- the TPP focuses on deeper integration with the Americas, and the RCEP on continuing integration across Asian markets."

Their report finds that:

"the benefits of implementing both agreements simultaneously amount to roughly 90 percent of the sum of benefits derived from implementing each agreement alone -- in other words, the agreements deliver different, largely complementary gains. At the same time, overlapping membership between the two initiatives should ensure that they do not devolve into competing blocs."

Finally, they say, the TPP itself can be designed to support the goals of ASEAN centrality, with provisions accessible to all reform-minded economies and a focus on competition and economic efficiency rather than rules prescribing specific governance or business systems.

"These new integration efforts, in turn, could play an important role in helping shape the global trading system," Plummer and Petri write. "Just as ASEAN faces a false choice between the TPP and RCEP, the WTO leaders face a false choice between multilateralism and regionalism in the global trading system, as the latter process in Asia could easily support the former if fashioned correctly."

##

The East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among people and nations of the United States, Asia and Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build expertise, and develop policy options.

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15 Things You're Doing Wrong Every Day

December 5, 2013, 6:56 am

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You probably feel like your daily routines are just fine, so it might surprise you to find out how much you're actually doing wrong.

Just because we've been doing something one way for as long as we can remember doesn't mean it's necessarily the best way. For just about every run-of-the-mill activity we do, there's a life-hack out there proclaiming you can somehow do it better. And if you had the chance to be the best of your friends at breathing or even sitting, why not at least give it a try? Go for the gold in washing your hands or taking out the garbage and you'll be well on your way to a better you.

Know these 15 things you're doing wrong and then maybe you can finally start doing things RIGHT.




1. Breathing



You breathe about 17,000 times a day, but your technique might be flawed. Slower, deeper breathing that comes from the lower diaphragm (or even better the surrounding area of the diaphragm) can help you relieve stress, lower your blood pressure and improve athletic performance by increasing stamina and reducing fatigue. Most of us are chest breathers, but developing a more focused approach can help you feel better day to day, especially if you're also exercising.


2. Showering



If you're shampooing more than a few times a week, you may be stripping away important oils in your hair -- called sebum -- and actually making your hair greasier: As sebum is stripped away, it causes oil glands on your scalp to compensate by overproducing more sebum, reported NPR, giving your hair an oily consistency. You also may be taking way too long in the shower. Long hot showers dry out your skin, use quite a bit of water (around 17 gallons each time), and can remove too much "good bacteria."


3. Working Out



Stretching before exercising can actually be counterintuitive as it temporarily weakens muscles and might not even reduce soreness in the days following exercise.

As for your actual workouts, spending time lifting lighter weights with more repetitions actually doesn't have greater slimming benefits than lifting heavier weights, and a lot of exercise doesn't have any slimming benefits at all. You also might want to rethink scheduling workouts every day.


4. Pronunciation



You're probably mispronouncing a ton of words, and with the immense popularity of "pronunciation" posts (see here, here, here and here) you might feel a little bit insecure about it. The "correct" pronunciation of some words might be eternally debatable, like "gif" (the White House says it's a hard "g," while their creator and "Jeopardy!" say soft, like "jif"). There are also words like "sherbet," which really doesn't have that phantom second "r," or "broo-skett-uh" (bruschetta). We all need to get on the same page with those.


5. Eating



Making sure to eat breakfast probably doesn't help you lose weight. You also might be eating too much meat (especially if it's red), and you probably don't need to be told this, but fast food is bad for you.

Also, no matter what you eat, eating it too fast may disrupt your body's natural chemical signals, causing you to consume more than you should, which could lead to a greater risk of obesity.


6. The Opposite of Eating



You should really be squatting instead of sitting. If the idea of simply hovering doesn't sound all too appealing, there are quite a few different ways to help you get in that squat position. Just make sure you're not straining.

Oh, and you've also probably been placing toilet seat covers on backwards. On top of all this, after you're done, you really need to be closing that lid, as molecules from whatever is in the bowl will fly into the air, making your toothbrush disgusting.


7. Washing Your Hands



Only 5 percent of Americans wash their hands correctly, so there's a very good chance you're doing this one wrong. Although the base definition of washing the right way means "rubbing vigorously with soap and water for at least 20 seconds," there are even more things you're probably doing wrong. Antibacterial soaps have been criticized over their use of the chemical "triclosan," which may cause antibiotic resistance and potentially even hormone alteration. On top of this, there may actually be no advantage to using antibacterial soaps when it comes to reducing your chances of getting sick.

Finally, you might be drying your hands wrong, as paper towels require a whole 15 seconds of use while hand dryers require 45 seconds. Paper towels have been found to be more effective in general.


8. Laundry



Your washing machine could be filled with E. coli and fecal matter, due to the residue your undergarments shed when rinsed (unless you go to Yale, where the poop particles could just be from students who have used the machines as toilets). You also may be failing to separate your clothes in enough categories or making the mistake of under/over filling the machine. And you're doing things especially wrong if you've moved out of the house, but still make your mom do your laundry.


9. Taking Out the Garbage



We have a huge "recycling bias," which makes us far less likely to recycle dented cans or ripped paper just because it isn't in pristine condition. Obviously, much of these items could still be recycled, as about 50 percent of our garbage is made up of recyclable materials.

When it comes to taking out actual trash, you could also be using kitty litter to destroy your trash can's street odor, or drilling small holes in the side of your garbage can to make large trashbag removal easier. And if you don't live on the ground floor, maybe you should consider investing in a fishing line.


10. Sleeping



About 70 million Americans aren't sleeping correctly and are at risk of significantly altering their "memory, learning, creativity, productivity and emotional stability." On top of this, there really is a sweet spot for how much sleep you should get. Anything outside of these regular sleep hours could have long-term health risks that have been associated with shortened lifespans. But it isn't just sleep behavior that can help you get this right. Tips for improving your sleep include exercising, turning off your phone, or simply tricking your brain into thinking you're dead tired.


11. Being Productive



It's actually impossible to multitask and those who come close are simply switching between tasks very quickly, which usually decreases focus. If you're someone who likes to power through tasks, you should know that your willpower is actually a finite resource and that taking breaks could significantly boost your mental capacities to do work. Here's another reminder to make sure you're making time for sleep, because on top of helping ideas solidify in your head, it can also -- surprise -- make you more productive.


12. Shaving



First off, shaving doesn't cause hair to come back thicker -- that is a myth. On a shave-to-shave basis, you should really be making sure to prepare your skin with the right creams and heating techniques to make sure you aren't totally wrecking your face, legs, armpits, etc. Also make sure to shave at night if you can, as the process leaves your skin ultra sensitive.


13. Recovering from a Hangover



Although recent studies have shown that Sprite might be the best hangover cure and Pedialyte has seen a recent rise in popularity, most doctors still agree that except for intense hangovers, which require more serious rehydration, waiting may be the only true cure, as the alcohol ultimately needs to be processed in your system regardless.


14. Brushing Your Teeth



First off, you should never brush your teeth directly after having an acidic meal or drink, because that can push the acid deeper into your enamel. Instead, wait 30 minutes or simply rinse your mouth with water. Some basic tips: Brush for two minutes each time, using a soft brush and not rubbing your teeth and gums too hard.


15. Sitting



Sitting for more than just a few hours a day can shorten your life expectancy and lead to a much higher risk of contracting diseases like diabetes or cardiovascular problems. Even if you work out regularly, just sitting around at the office all day can constitute a sedentary enough of a lifestyle to invite health risks. Although stand-up desks might be a good way to go, if you want to sit better there are simple posture and ergonomic tricks. You could make sure to fidget around (ideally not in a totally weird way). Or, if you have $1,000 lying around, you could buy a super high-tech chair.


You were wondering how much you've been doing wrong.




And apparently it's just about everything.

Gourmet Gifts for the Foodie

December 5, 2013, 6:58 am

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Do you have a foodie in your life? You know, someone who owns several different types of salt or who can detect the type of oil their dish has been cooked with at a restaurant. Or maybe you are the foodie reading this and want to send a subtle hint to your loved ones by way of this article (that means you loved ones reading this!). Either way, let's celebrate this first day of December with a little wish list indulgence. Below is a list of foodie gift ideas any home cook or food lover will enjoy.

Truffle Paste
Of all the truffle flavored items out there (oil, butter, cheese) truffle paste gives you the most bang for your buck. Can be used to flavor soup, eggs, potatoes, and anything you want to taste amazing.

Immersion Blender
If the foodie in your life also happens to enjoy cooking, the immersion blender is a must have kitchen tool. Great for blending hot soups, making salad dressings, and for pulverizing anything that must be pulverized.

Gourmet Coffee
The coffee snob in your life will love to rub their faces in a pound of handpicked and roasted specialty coffee. Kona coffee is a good choice because it has a mellow flavor profile that the majority of the population likes -- basically you can't go wrong. I like Kona Rising coffee because they only roast the beans after you order them, ensuring ultimate freshness.

Stand Mixer Attachments
If the foodie in your life happens to have a stand mixer (such as a KitchenAid) gifting them an attachment adds to their repertoire as these are generally sold separately. Attachment choices include ice cream maker, meat grinder, sausage stuffer, pasta maker and much more.

Le Creuset Anything
If you're going all out, a dutch oven or casserole dish from the high-quality Le Creuset cast-iron brand is tops for the home cook and they last forever. Just think, every time they cook with it, they'll think of you. Awww.

If all else fails, a gift certificate to the local gourmet grocery store or their favorite restaurant is always appreciated. Not that all gifts aren't appreciated, they are, but some things aren't always what they seem. Which leads me to my next point, what not to get the foodie.

Some gifts seem like a no-brainer for your foodie friends, but are more likely to end up in the re-gift pile.

Cookbooks
Unless your foodie has swooned over a particular title, chances are they have way too many cookbooks already. Save your money.

"Gourmet" Foods
Many specialty food products labeled "gourmet" (especially during the holiday season) such as candies, cheeses, crackers, and spreads are anything but. Mostly, it's a marketing gimmick. Steer clear of the holiday gift baskets unless you have personal experience with the products and know they are legit.

Cutesy Kitchen Gadgets
If it's something the foodie can use on a regular basis, go for it. If it's something they will probably use once, i.e. cake pop maker, microwave egg cooker, or marshmallow cutters, forget it.

Hope this helps you find the perfect gourmet gift for your foodie.

Study: Which Sectors of U.S. Economy Will 'Peak Oil' Imperil?

December 5, 2013, 9:14 am

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This is what I've been talking about here, over and over again. We are not paying attention to this, and yet it's the most important concern we are facing in Hawaii today.

The Big Island's anti-GMO bill, Bill 113, is just moving chairs around on the deck of the Titanic. The issue is so much bigger:

According to a press release from the University of Maryland:

"Researchers from the University of Maryland and a leading university in Spain demonstrate in a new study which sectors could put the entire U.S. economy at risk when global oil production peaks ("Peak Oil"). This multi-disciplinary team recommends immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce the vulnerability of these sectors."

The study looked at how vulnerable different aspects of the U.S. economy are to the effects of Peak Oil. In the United States, the research concludes, such sectors would include iron mills, chemical and plastic products manufacturing, fertilizer production and air transport.

It's almost like we are getting ready to launch the canoes from down in the south Pacific, in order to find another island home. That's how significant these threats are.

I wrote the following back in 2007. It's been six years now and we're at risk of going backward with taking care of our people and food supplies, not forward!

...I told them I had a nightmare that there would be a big meeting down by the pier one day, where they announce that food supplies were short because the oil supply was short and so we would have to send thousands of people out to discover new land.

I was afraid that they would send all the people with white hair out on the boats to find new land -- all the Grandmas and Grandpas and me, but maybe not June.

Grandmas and Grandpas hobbled onto the boats with their canes and their wheelchairs, clutching all their medicines, and everybody gave all of us flower leis, and everyone was saying, "Aloha, Aloha, call us when you find land! Aloha!"

I spoke about where we want to be in five, 10 or 20 years. We know that energy-related costs will be high then. And that we need to provide food for Hawaii's people. 

It's as though soon, we're going to have to go.

But where will we go?

WWII Vet Allegedly Bumped From Flight On His Way To Pearl Harbor

December 5, 2013, 9:35 am

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Prohibition Ended 80 Years Ago Today. Celebrate With This Boozy Cocktail Of Knowledge

December 5, 2013, 10:49 am

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At 5:32 in the afternoon 80 years ago on Thursday, Prohibition ended as the 21st Amendment was ratified. It's a wonderful excuse to get zozzled, ossified, or positively spifflicated -- and celebrate that you're totally not sipping methanol -- but before you do, let's consider how the Noble Experiment changed the way a nation drinks.


Prohibition devastated a healthy industry.



It wiped out 85 percent of U.S. distilleries and 100 percent of breweries putting out full-strength beer. Legal liquor retailers went down in number by 90 percent. The breweries and distilleries that stayed open switched to making non-alcoholic "near beer," industrial alcohol, or other products entirely.

Most retailers that existed before Prohibition never reopened.



Saloons, with their "macho culture," died out.



By all accounts they were pretty grimy places dedicated to excess drinking and working-class social life. Now we call those dive bars.

But the Noble Experiment had some unintended consequences.



Some cities, like Pittsburgh, didn't even abide by the new ban. It just wasn't enforced, and anyone who thought differently was booted out.

Hard liquor made a dramatic comeback in America.



Hardly anyone at a speakeasy drank beer. With their higher alcohol content by volume -- and, let's face it, getting drunk is all that mattered -- distilled spirits were a better moneymaker and easier to transport.

However, the booze available was disgusting, which spurred the popularity of cocktails to mask its taste.



Like how you chased vodka with literally whatever other drink you could find during your freshman year of college. But classier.

And grape juice manufacturers printed instructions on how NOT to let their product ferment. *Wink.*



The Volstead Act, which nailed down a definition of "intoxicating" beverages, neglected to mention anything about grape concentrate, which can be rehydrated and fermented into alcohol.

So people started making their own.



And despite the wish of older generations of women to stamp out alcohol...



Young women started drinking it with enthusiasm!



Helping to normalize lady drinking in public, along with serving alcohol in the home as a social beverage.



But well into the 1930s, two-thirds of Americans still thought Prohibition was a good idea.



LAME.

So wary distilleries started ad campaigns encouraging consumers to drink in moderation to change public perception of drinking.



While trying to associate liquor with wealth and high-class society -- NOT those ghastly, uncivilized saloons.



Meanwhile, people had grown accustomed to gin, which was quick and easy to bootleg.



"Bathtub gin" got its name because the bottles used to mix it in were too tall for regular sinks and had to be filled under a bathtub faucet.

And, because good straight whiskey had been hard to come by, blended whiskey.



By one estimate, just one-fourth of this variant was composed of actual whiskey. Distilleries that opened right after therRepeal also opted to sell blended variants to stretch their supply of the straight stuff -- which, needing to be both produced and aged, was dangerously low.

And rum, of course.



Rum was sold cheaper and therefore not as lucrative a bootleg trade, however.

Prohibition changed a whole generation's taste at the bar.



While the vast majority were drinking straight whiskey a few years prior, Prohibition forced them to get creative with that and other liquors. Except vodka, which hadn't yet caught on. Or tequila.

Only very recently did the number of breweries in the U.S. surpass pre-Prohibition levels.



But if it weren't for the 18th Amendment, we might have missed out on one important U.S. landmark...



Las Vegas. Bootleggers helped establish casino resorts on the Strip as we know them today.

Kauai Travel Itinerary: The Lesser Known Island Paradise

December 5, 2013, 1:41 pm

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A New York Times article, complete with a 36-hour itinerary, argues that Kauai -- a lesser known island paradise in Hawaii -- feels like the "world's most stunning backwater."

"These days," it argues, "Kauai sits firmly on the tourist radar, an indisputable rival of its famous neighbors, Oahu and Maui. But upon first glance at its unspoiled natural splendor, you'd never know it. A closer look at one of the oldest (geologically speaking) and arguably most beautiful of the major Hawaiian Islands reveals a blossoming culinary scene, a rooted arts community and a smattering of resorts."

Read the full article here and let us know your thoughts on Kauai.

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Shark Culling Considered In Hawaii And Australia After Slew Of Attacks

December 5, 2013, 2:38 pm

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Governments around the world have been debating -- and experimenting with -- shark culling to mitigate shark attacks.

Culling is basically organized mass hunting. Governments sanction the killing of a certain number of sharks with the hope of stopping rampant attacks.

But it is unclear whether these methods work, and some find the practice environmentally reprehensible.

Between 1959 and 1976, Hawaii culled over 4,500 sharks around the islands. According to the Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology, however, the program made no difference in the number of shark attacks that occurred.

Now that Maui has suffered an unprecedented eight attacks this year alone (thirteen total in Hawaii), the state is reconsidering the culling option. But killing sharks is an especially complicated prospect in Hawaii, where Native Hawaiian culture traditionally revered sharks as aumakua, or personal/family gods.

State Representative Joe Souki actually proposed killing sea turtles, which are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act, instead in an effort to remove the shark’s food sources close to shore.

A more prominent politician, Australian Premier Colin Barnett, has been quite vocal about his openness to culling. In Sept. 2012, Barnett told reporters, "We will always put the lives and safety of beachgoers ahead of the shark. This is, after all, a fish - let's keep it in perspective."

In light of two fatal attacks in his country this month, Barnett said that culling was still an option. “If there are repeated sightings of a large shark in an area where people swim or surf, to me that is an imminent threat, and I think we take a tougher line of what is an imminent threat, and if that means destroying the shark so be it.”

This summer, the French government imposed a culling program on Reunion Island after several deadly and particularly gruesome attacks. (The government also temporarily banned surfing in the shark-infested waters -- to the outrage of many locals.) The government had already killed 24 sharks, but instituted a plan to cull 90 more45 bull sharks and 45 tiger sharks.

Those against culling scoff at the option as a desperate and ineffective practice. In an op-ed last week, two scientists from the University of Western Australia wrote: "Pre-emptively killing sharks is a response based on emotion rather than on scientific data. So often the argument in favour of a cull comes down to the emotional question of who is more important: a human or a shark. Rather, we need to ask the question, will culling sharks actually reduce the risk of an attack? The answer is no.”

But others think it does come down to who is more important -- in the water at least -- a human or a shark. Carl Meyer of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology calls it a “philosophical” debate, about “whether it is ethical to kill large predators in order to make the natural environment a safer playground for humans.” Shark author and diver Hugh Edwards told ABC Australia, “It makes no sense to catch sharks that are quite innocent of the crime – and when I say crime, that’s a crime in our eyes. In fact we’re the intruders in the ocean and the sharks have got a perfect right to be there.”

What seems to be little discussed in the public debate is what collateral damage occurs from culling programs. Meyer says that culling “runs the risk of ecosystem-level cascade effects where a general lack of sharks results in boom or bust in populations of species further down the food chain.”

This is perhaps the most pressing issue. After all, if we mess with sharks’ food, it seems, sharks mess with us.

To Nelson Mandela, My Favorite College Professor

December 5, 2013, 3:09 pm

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A political prisoner changed my life.

That man, now free -- always free, really -- wore number 466 at Robben Island prison in South Africa. Today, he died. I know Nelson Mandela won't have the opportunity to read this. But I do need to write it.

He was, in the end, my favorite college professor.





The photograph of me above was taken in spring 1987, when I was a sophomore at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Like thousands of college students in the United States and around the world, I saw myself in the struggles of South Africa's anti-apartheid movements. And like many Americans, I saw the original sin of my own nation echoed in that country's system of racial oppression, and was appalled by the unwillingness of so many of my elders -- from the Chancellor and Trustees of my university, to the President of the United States -- to use their power to lean in for justice.

On the morning that picture was taken in front of Kirkland Hall, Nelson Mandela awoke to his 23rd year in prison. And the apartheid regime, though under assault from within and without, still stood -- with no apparent end in sight. Desmond Tutu and other activists had made it clear to the good people of the world that the best way for us to weaken apartheid was to impose economic sanctions. At the very least, we needed to cease profiting from it.

All across the United States, towns, churches, unions, and universities boycotted South Africa, and divested themselves of shares in corporations that did business with the apartheid regime. Students built shanties on their campuses, to draw attention to the horrid living conditions in Soweto and other townships, and to appeal to the conscience of university administrators, faculty, alumni, and their fellow students.





They built them in the places you might expect -- Berkeley, Madison, Cambridge. And they built them at universities unaccustomed (and even hostile) to acts of protest and civil disobedience.





We built them at Vanderbilt, in the spring of 1987. My somewhat disheveled look above was a direct result of spending a sleepless night in our cold shanty, worried about whether the death threats on my answering machine were merely idle -- and whether I had compromised my moral integrity by letting the campus police know about them.

I left the tony New York suburb of Greenwich, CT for Vanderbilt in September 1985. My hometown was a conservative place, and I had been a conservative activist. I was a volunteer for William Buckley's Young Americans for Freedom at the 1984 GOP convention, for example. And while my political journey leftward had already begun before I headed South, I selected Vanderbilt in large part because I thought it might get me where I thought I wanted to go -- law school, and then a career in politics.

By the end of my freshman year, May 1986, I thought I had made a mistake. Vanderbilt probably thought so, too. While I read constantly, as I always had, I felt thoroughly disconnected from the place. And from myself, really. I loved the classes I loved -- philosophy, mostly. And the classes I didn't love, I didn't bother with. Throw in the usual heterosexual freshman male pursuits, and its no small wonder I finished up the second semester barely holding on. I aced some summer school philosophy classes -- and a hugely influential history course on the civil rights movement -- which enabled me to return in September 1986.

And then, in the fall, I took a walk past the Divinity School on my way to the library. Directly across from the Div courtyard, I saw a small group of men and women sitting next to a kind of lean-to. One of them, a junior named Richard Jung, called me over, and asked me if I knew anything about something called "apartheid." I didn't really. My abrupt Yankee instincts pushed me to say "thanks but no thanks." But there was something about Richard's earnest and kind expression (and, I think, the physical appearance of one of the women in the group) that drew me in.

And I really never left. Something clicked, and it changed my life.

Vanderbilt was not friendly ground for the anti-apartheid movement. Neither was Nashville. Vanderbilt, you see, had a history. It had expelled the Rev. James Lawson from its brand-new Divinity School in the spring of 1960. Why? For running workshops in non-violent civil disobedience, to train young Nashville activists to do sit-ins in downtown department stores and lunch counters. Lawson was the intellectual and moral godfather of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).





The photograph above was taken in front of those very same Kirkland Hall stairs -- in the spring of 1960.

Perhaps we were naive to feel a little frightened, when we built the shanties. But we did. Or at least, I did. I think I feared the possible consequences -- suspension, expulsion, injury, death. Mockery. And failure. But there was another kind of unnerving feeling too. Hard to describe, though I think 'awe' captures most of it. In our own way, and in only partial knowledge of our limitations, we were trying to bend the moral arc of the universe.

Most of the people in our group, Vanderbilt Against Apartheid (VAA), were philosophy majors. And night after night -- at Country Mack's diner, in the McGill philosophy and fine arts dorm, and in the shanties -- we tried to connect Kant, Rawls, and especially Sartre and Camus to the anti-apartheid struggle. We discovered James Lawson, and SNCC, and the American civil rights struggle. We read Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. We thought about what it meant, to live out your principles like Nelson Mandela. Using the tools at hand -- the challenges posed by our professors, the moral complexities of the world we found ourselves inheriting, and one another -- we slowly, tentatively, pursued a humanities education in the truest, best sense.

We learned that ideas matter.

We learned, with Camus, that even in the depths of winter, within each of us lies an invincible summer.

We learned about human interdependence, and that for each to rise, we must in some fashion converge.

And we discovered one another. And ourselves.

We knew that we were part of a national movement. Indeed, a global one. And that helped. We also knew that we were swimming in the broader stream of a history that buoyed us. That helped, too. So did the personal bonds we had developed in VAA. We loved one another, in a way that only people who take risks together can.

I was in heaven, if only for a minute.

Oh, and another thing helped: we knew we were right.

I'm still sitting in front of the shanties, in my own way, more than 25 years later. I'm trying to do what Richard did for me then -- to gently prod folks to look, listen, think, and maybe act.

I've worked as a labor organizer. I've gone to grad school, and become a college professor. I served for a while as the co-chair of a Human Rights Commission. I've never gone to prison, though I certainly know people who have. And I'm not in electoral politics either, though I'd still try it if the opportunity arose. I'm 46 now -- the same age Mandela was, when the iron gate at Robbens Island slammed shut behind him. I'm a father and a husband. I have many roles to play, and I try to bring whatever integrity I can muster to all of them. But when I teach -- at my university, in the Clemente Course in the Humanities -- I still lean in, and try to make gentle the life of this world, as Robert Kennedy once put it. I try to do it when I write, too, because I still firmly believe that ideas matter.

I became convinced during that heady time a quarter-century ago that America will never become the place it can be -- "the land that never has been yet" -- until the problem of the color line is resolved. And more pointedly, I became convinced that white American men must confront that problem (it is a white one, after all). They must answer it, as best they can. They must face it squarely. To do otherwise is to misunderstand ourselves and our fellow Americans, as well as our history. Privilege is always the flip side of deprivation, each tied to the other like we are to one another.

My teaching and my scholarship, as well as most of my adult life since that fall day in 1986, have been dedicated to that pursuit. I can't claim any great victories. I doubt I ever will. Most great victories are collective ones, anyway.

I learned all this from my favorite Vanderbilt professor, Nelson Mandela.

*******************************************

Vanderbilt, to its eternal shame, never divested from its investments in companies profiting from apartheid. I addressed the Board of Trustees on two occasions. Restraining my increasingly radical instincts, I sought to persuade them that they could do good, garner positive pr, and make more moneyby shifting the university's endowment into some sort of social investment index. I showed them how other comparable private universities had actually grown their endowments after divesting. I told them it would help Vanderbilt to attract and keep students and faculty of color.

They were dismissive -- not just of my arguments, but of the entire idea that we might have some kind of wisdom from which the institution could benefit. They thought that VAA was just some sort of modern day panty raid, thinly obfuscated by a veneer of intellectualism.

A number of us engaged in a week-long hunger strike in 1988. It drew national attention, and nearly pushed me toward a physical and emotional breakdown. I neglected my schoolwork, and got in trouble for it. I probably neglected my girlfriend of the time, too.

But the university would not be moved

In February 1990, as I packed up to leave Nashville (and the country) to grab my piece of the suddenly fragile Berlin Wall, F.W. deKlerk announced the repeal of apartheid -- and Mandela walked out of prison.

Just over a year before Mandela had been sentenced, Martin Luther King languished in a Birmingham jail, reflecting upon our responsibility to one another. "We will have to repent in this generation," King wrote, "not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

Vanderbilt was given that opportunity. Sadly, it chose not to take it. In a broader sense, our country continues to do the same.

All of us human beings are flawed. Each, in our own way; and together, in the very same fundamental ways. For Nelson Mandela, the time was always ripe to do right.

Rest in peace, professor. Oh, and Amandla Ngawethu!

This post originally appeared on Chants Democratic.

Obama: Flags To Be Flown At Half-Staff In Honor Of Nelson Mandela

December 5, 2013, 5:10 pm

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President Barack Obama ordered flags at the White House and other public and military facilities to be flown at half-staff through sunset on December 9 to honor the passing of Nelson Mandela.

The South African icon, who was the country's first black president, passed away Thursday at the age of 95 after a long battle with a lung infection.

"We've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with," Obama said of Mandela after news of his death broke. "He no longer belongs to us, he belongs to the ages ... His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to."

Obama continued, "We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again."

The president signed the proclamation Thursday evening.

Read the full document below:

Mandela Proclamation

Jungle Beat: Hilo's Famous Banyan Trees

December 6, 2013, 6:43 am

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The enormous Banyan trees on Hilo's Banyan Drive are famous around the world. They are old (planted in the 1930s), huge and named after the important people who planted them, such as: Babe Ruth, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart.

How Big Do They Get?

The banyan, which hails from India and is considered sacred there, is one of the world's largest trees. It can reach a height of 60 feet with a diameter of up to 600 feet. Mature banyans can cover an area as large, or larger, than two acres! It belongs to the fig plant family in the genus ficus, which includes 900 species. Our banyans fall into the species benghalensis. According to the Kew Gardens (U.K.) website: "The English name comes from 'banyans' or 'banians,' which were the Hindu traders seen resting or carrying out their business under the tree canopy."

Medicinal Properties

In the Indian Ayurvedic healing tradition, ficus benghalensis is used medicinally to treat a number of different ailments. When the bark, root fiber, leaves, seeds or milky juice are prepared in certain ways, they can serve as an astringent for the bowels and other digestive organs. This plant has also been used to treat fevers, inflammations, leprosy (Hansen's disease), gonorrhea, dysentery and liver problems.

In the Amazon region of South America, indigenous people dig the roots of one banyan species, dry them and then smoke them in the belief that this treatment will relieve pain.

Commercial Uses

Some banyan species have commercial uses, such as providing shellac. Lac is a resinous secretion that comes from several insects, such as the Laccifer Lacca, that are parasites of banyan trees. In some parts of the world, banyan trees are farmed for this lac, and purposely inoculated with the insect. A product called French polish includes shellac; it is used for finishing wood and produces a very glossy surface.

Banyan leaves are sometimes fed to animals, but the fruits are small and are used as human food only during famines.

Invasiveness Potential

Because the banyan tree starts its life as en epiphyte, it sometimes grows on another plant upon which it depends for mechanical support but not for nutrients, according to the Free Dictionary. The roots of some ficus tree species can strangle their host tree, giving them the nickname, "strangler fig." Ficus barbata, which is native to the Caribbean island of Barbados, is a big problem in the rainforest areas of Central and northern South America.

Another species, ficus aurea, is native to Florida and has become quite invasive in that part of the world. Some species of ficus grow in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and other parts of Central America. Although they have provided food and shelter for many types of animals over the centuries, they are believed to have contributed to the destruction of the vast Mayan cities. When their seeds landed on the rocks, which made up temples and other structures, they grew into powerful trees, whose roots forced the stones to separate and crumble.

Luckily, the banyan trees growing in Hawai'i have not manifested themselves as an introduced invader. According to the University of Hawai'i's "Weed Risk Assessment", the ficus benghalensis has a low risk of becoming invasive, as do ficus benjamina (a common houseplant) and ficus carica, the common edible fig.

The Toxic Smog Cloud Hanging Over Shanghai Looks Just As Bad As It Sounds

December 6, 2013, 8:56 am

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Shanghai is notorious for its terrible air quality, but the smog in this Chinese metropolis just hit absurd levels. The government's air pollution monitoring site records the level of PM2.5, particulate matter hazardous to health, at 477 as of this writing, one of the highest pollution levels ever recorded. The World Health Organization recommends an average PM2.5 level of 20 or below.

A fetid product of industrial pollution, car exhaust and particulate matter from coal burning, this blanket has been left to fester in the city's streets due to a bout of cold and still weather. It makes the city a dangerous place to be a living, breathing human right now. "Severely polluted" air, the government site states, puts residents at increased risk of cardiopulmonary diseases, and it's suggested that everyone in the city avoid outdoor activity.

This is a clear day in Shanghai:



And this is Shanghai at all-time high levels of air pollution:

Oriental Pearl Tower. Range: about 400m. (No filter) pic.twitter.com/IlbqlDopER

— John Ruwitch (@jruwitch) December 6, 2013

Shanghai this morning, AQI in the 400s, worst air pollution I've seen in the city. Air filters on high. pic.twitter.com/To6tQAAnOh

— Rob Schmitz (@rob_schmitz) December 6, 2013

Wow, Shanghai looks like Cloud City. Except those clouds are made of death. pic.twitter.com/R5c108PkzJ

— Noah Smith (@Noahpinion) December 5, 2013

Air pollution creeps indoors as smog hits new record in Shanghai. http://t.co/iwCkl058Ng pic.twitter.com/ENo8QT71I3

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) December 6, 2013

Google Maps currently showing half of Shanghai covered in smog pic.twitter.com/2o7HiZgMM9

— Bridget O'Donnell (@bridgers) May 13, 2013

Instagram: jumpingjessi


Instagram: 556nong


Instagram: keenaf



A Reddit user posted photos taken on Thursday and Friday, showing the dramatic change:





Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Shanghai as the capital of China. That would be Beijing.

Dear Abercrombie: Thank You for Allowing Us 'Fat, Uncool' Kids to Buy Your Clothing Online

December 6, 2013, 9:06 am

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Abercrombie and Fitch never wanted overweight people to wear their clothing. It was not meant for us. I know this because when I was younger I could not fit into their shirts or pants. It was then confirmed by their CEO Mike Jeffries.

It was meant for the cool kids. The popular kids. Of course, that does not include overweight people. Because how could a fat kid be cool and popular?

Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, has said:

In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don't alienate anybody, but you don't excite anybody, either.

Their stock is down 25 percent this year, and they have been down for seven straight quarters. Their clothing has not been relevant to kids in quite a while.

But they have decided to change! They have decided that us "fat, uncool" kids can finally wear their clothing. That is right -- they have made the decision to make larger sizes of their clothing.

HOORAY! Do you know how many of us "fat, uncool" kids have longed to wear Abercrombie clothing? I mean, they even made a hit song with girls wearing Abercrombie and Fitch called "Summer Girls" -- of course, the song was 16 years ago when their clothing was actually cool.

But the best part of this, that very few people caught, is that they are for now only going to sell the "plus-size" clothing (which they deem over a size 10 for women) online. Not at the stores. Apparently, Abercrombie has standards. The "fat, uncool" women cannot go into the stores. They can shop online, where they belong.

Because as Mike Jeffries has said before:

We hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that.

But now they do. Because they have realized that there are a lot of "fat, uncool" people out there. Lululemon has realized it also. Many companies realize it after the controversy of their fat-shaming hurts their bottom line. These companies are calling people fat when they are not fat. Is wearing a size 12 fat? No. Many women run marathons who wear a size 12. Many women work out six days a week and eat clean and wear a size 12. Many women do CrossFit and wear a size 12. In my eyes, size 12 is not plus-size; it's average.

I was a "fat, uncool" kid who wanted to fit in. I distinctly remember not being able to fit into Abercrombie. Yet I could wear Polo, Hilfiger, Nike, Reebok, Fila and 9 million other brands of clothing. These are companies that are still successful today.

Abercrombie is desperate. I liked them better when they hated us. I will always be a "fat,uncool" kid at heart. It does not go away.

They told us we were not part of their club. They told us we were not meant for their clothing. They told us we were not hip enough, good enough or attractive enough to wear their clothing.

But sales are down. So now they want us. They need us "fat, uncool" people to buy their clothing. They need us to buy it for our kids; the kids today who laugh when their parents say anything is cool.

Abercrombie fired a woman for wearing a head scarf in observation of her religion. She was not fat, just "uncool" in their eyes, I guess. The clearly do not understand people. They do not understand diversity. But, they understand that they are losing money, and they should. That's what matters to them. I am tired of CEO's giving "non-apology" answers for comments they made from the heart. They know who they are hurting.

So now with sales declining, Abercrombie is now allowing us fat people to purchase their clothing online.

Honestly, I have been able to wear Abercrombie clothing for years, now. But in honor of all my "fat, uncool" friends, and because I am still a "fat, uncool" person, I will always refuse.

I would rather wear dignity any day of the week.

5 Facts You Didn't Know About Pearl Harbor, On The 72nd Anniversary

December 6, 2013, 9:07 am

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Sure, we all know the date (December 7th, 1941), and the famous quote ("a date which will live in infamy"), and of course the implications and significance (2,402 Americans were killed; it launched the U.S. into World War II).

But there are some other facts that may not be so obvious...


1. Some of the battleships sunk that day were resurrected:

Of the 8 battleships that were targeted during the attacks, all but 2 were eventually repaired and returned to the U.S. Navy's fleet. The USS West Virginia and the USS California had both sunk completely, but the Navy raised them, repaired them, and reused them.

Furthermore, bullet holes and damage from the attacks can be seen to this day at many of the active military installations on Oahu, including Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield and Hickam Army Air Field. Rather than repair or cover up the damage, the bullet holes serve as a reminder of the lives lost that day and as motivation for our military to stand strong still:



2. Veterans of the attack can be laid to rest at Pearl Harbor:

Survivors of the attack have the option to join their lost comrades and make Pearl Harbor their final resting place. Crewmembers who served on board the USS Arizona -- which experienced the most devastating damage -- when the attack occurred may choose to have their ashes deposited by divers beneath one of the sunken Arizona's gun turrets. Roughly 30 Arizona survivors have chosen this option and only about a dozen of the 355 survivors are known to still be alive.



3. The USS Arizona still leaks fuel:

The day before the attack, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel — nearly 1.5 million gallons. Much of that fuel helped ignite the explosion and subsequent fires that destroyed the ship, but -- amazingly -- some of that fuel continues to seep out of the wreckage. According to the History Channel, the Arizona "continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day" and visitors often say it is as if the ship were still bleeding.



4. Servicemembers stationed in Hawaii took care of the memorial during the government shutdown:

Servicemembers stationed in Hawaii treat Pearl Harbor as a living memorial and have been known to rally around it when times are tough. In October, for instance, when the U.S. government shut down for more than two weeks, no one was around to take care of the memorial site. A spontaneous group of servicemembers and their families gathered to tend to the seemingly abandoned site, raking, weeding and mowing the overgrown grass. Their message, they said, was to all veterans: "We haven't forgotten about you. We will not forget about you."



5. Many tourists from Japan come to visit the memorial:

While most school children can tell you that the Japanese were responsible for the attacks on Pearl Harbor, not everyone realizes that the Japanese now visit the memorial in droves. Japan, now one of America's strongest allies, is the largest source of international tourists to the state of Hawaii. They pay their respects at Pearl Harbor just as Americans do, and ironically, the economic vitality of Hawaii today depends largely on tourism from Japan.

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Mammoth Medical Mission's Inspiring Story In The Philippines

December 6, 2013, 9:25 am

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Two days after super Typhoon Haiyan flattened the Central Philippine Islands of Visayas, the Mammoth Medical Mission team from California landed in Manila.

From there, they were transported by ground to a nearby military base where they were flown by the Philippine military to Tacloban airport on Leyte Island. At the airport, they were met by the Mayor of Tanauan, who had ridden a bike over 10 miles to seek help in the larger city. From the airport, they were ferried by military helicopter to a beach near Tanauan, Leyte. As the helicopters landed, they were immediately surrounded by desperate residents in search of food and water. Tensions were high as the storm ravaged residents did not initially understand who was coming and what they carried.

“Where are the body bags?” someone from the crowd asked, “We need body bags. Where is the food and water?” As the crowd came to understand that this was an American medical team, tensions eased.

Now dusk on Sunday, the team hiked into town to set up an emergency clinic at the nearly destroyed town hall. Arriving there at 7 p.m., they immediately began setting up in near total darkness and intermittent rain. The storm left the building roofless and the floor covered with “mud, blood, feces and glass,” according to the team.

Throughout the night, they cleaned up and used furniture for exam and operating tables with tarps as a makeshift roof. By 8 a.m., the clinic was open and receiving patients.

Those seeking care had deep, festering, infected wounds all over their bodies. The limb injuries were horrendous. It had now been two days since the storm hit and many people in the area had essentially no medical care up until the team’s arrival.

A Change in Plans

This team had planned on being in Mexico for a routine humanitarian medical mission, but instead found itself in almost unimaginable destruction in a remote part of the Pacific island nation.

The team is based in Mammoth Lakes, California, though they have team members from around the country. The planned Mexico trip had seven doctors and 11 other team members and would have provided elective medical and surgical services to an underserved area.

On the evening of Thursday, Nov. 7, the team had all of their medical equipment and supplies packed and ready for their Friday morning flight from Los Angeles to Mexico. Yet at around the same time, typhoon Haiyan was brutally cutting through the Visayas region of the Philippines as the strongest typhoon on record.

An urgent call came in to the Mammoth leadership: “Can you divert to the Philippines?” The request came from another humanitarian group, but one without doctors. They were aware of the emergent need in Visayas, and thought to partner with the Mammoth group. The MMM team met early Friday morning, had a vote, and changed their plans. Soon thereafter, they boarded a plane headed for Manila.

Dr. Sara May, an emergency physician with experiences from Los Angeles to rural Minnesota, was one of the Mammoth physicians on the Philippine mission and shared their amazing story. Other members of the team included doctors with specialties in orthopedics, thoracic surgery, anesthesiology and OB-GYN. Dr. Mike Karch, an orthopedic surgeon and MMM team leader, was present at Ground Zero and even teaches an annual course on mass casualty training. In essence, this was the right group, at the right place, at the right time.

“The wounds we saw were so extreme,” Dr. May recalled.

Many of the lacerations were to the bone, including those on the scalp. “We saw a lot of fractures,” she said, including “open” fractures where the bones protruded from the skin. Many were deeply infected and required surgical debridement in their makeshift operating room.

In many hurricanes, typhoons and tornados, injuries occur from flying debris. Dr. May estimated that 70 percent of the wounds they saw were caused by displaced corrugated tin roofs that had become flying guillotines. Many of the other injuries were from coconuts flying at 150-200 miles per hour, the estimated wind speed of the typhoon.

With their small makeshift clinic at the town hall, the patients kept coming. This in one of the areas where “disaster medicine” differs from the regular emergency care people would receive on any other day. On an average day in the ER, there is a big team to care for a few badly hurt patients. In a disaster, you have a small team to take care for many people with critical injuries all at the same time.

The anesthesiologists in the group had a limited amount of sedatives including ketamine and propofol, however it was not enough to provide anesthesia for all of the patients. The team needed to come up with another way to allow pain-free surgery, since they were seeing an average of 40 patients a day. A fortuitous last-minute equipment addition made this possible.

The company Fujifilm makes a small, portable ultrasound machine called the Sonosite. Apparently, a company representative had provided a loaner Sonosite to the team for the trip. It is about the size of a small laptop computer and can run off batteries, making it ideal for an environment without electricity.

In addition to looking for internal injuries and looking at unborn babies, this ultrasound device is also able to locate nerves within the body. The anesthesiologist could then inject a small amount of a numbing medication called lidocaine directly into a nerve. This is called a regional nerve block and can make an entire limb numb and free of pain during wound debridement or even surgery.

Most everyone seen during the first two days had moderate to severe wounds that were often infected. The team had oral antibiotics which they used to treat the infections after the wounds were surgically cleaned. Some injuries were so severe that amputations were necessary to save lives.

Taking Care of Themselves

Another challenge for the MMM members was keeping themselves healthy enough to continue caring for all of the incoming patients. One of the caveats of any rescue mission is to ensure your own health and safety, thus avoiding becoming another victim.

The team’s bottled water they carried with them ran out after the first day. There was a deep well nearby that they used on day two, but the surrounding area was littered with the dead, who were now starting to decompose, raising fears of well water contamination. They saw over 100 dead bodies in the area.

To have access to clean water, they set up a water catchment system created out of tarps that covered their clinic. The captured rain was then filtered and used by both MMM members and their patients.

Their food consisted of “meals ready to eat” or MREs. These are standard fare for field military operations and usually three of the 1200 calorie meals are eaten daily. The MMM team had enough MREs for about one per person per day, so each ate half of one in the morning and the other half at night.

Another source of calories that was particularly popular with their younger patients was a duffel bag of left-over Halloween candy that made the journey with them. This was used not only for the kids, but also for the desperately ill adults who needed some form of oral glucose to sustain them.

By day three and four of the mission, many of the patients they were seeing were coming back for rechecks and further debridement. Dr. May believes 90 percent of their patient interactions were “life-saving.”

The most seriously injured were able to be evacuated out of Tanauan by helicopter which came as a relief to the team. Some patients had severe sepsis, or bacterial blood poisoning, and others had severe wounds with at least one patient with necrotizing fasciitis, also called flesh eating bacteria. Another young woman, who had an emergency caesarian section done by the team, was also evacuated along with her healthy new baby.

As the team wrapped up their mission on Thursday, a four-person team from Japan with one surgeon came in and took over care in the region. The team from Japan, rested and loaded with fresh supplies, was able to continue caring for those injured who remained in the community.

New medical teams going into the areas of devastation will likely encounter debilitated patients with pneumonia and malnutrition as well as those with acute diarrhea from contaminated food and water. Patients with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems may also be suffering if unable to get their regular medications.

The Mammoth Medical Mission’s originally planned trip to Mexico has been rescheduled for May 2014.

Intense Pearl Harbor Photos Show Why The U.S. Went To War, Why It Is Hell

December 6, 2013, 9:52 am

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It was a sunny, mostly clear Sunday in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, when the unexpected hum of planes cut through the warm Hawaiian air. In a period of just two hours, 353 Japanese aircraft laid siege to the U.S. naval base, sinking 18 ships and destroying nearly 200 aircraft in a sneak attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans and wounded over 1,000 more.

The photos below show the severity of the destruction and why the tragedy led the U.S. to get involved in World War II:



Believed to be the first bomb dropped on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in the sneak-attack on Dec. 7, 1941, this picture was found torn to pieces at Yokusuka Base by photographer's mate 2/C Martin J. Shemanski of Plymouth, Pa. One Japanese plane is shown pulling out of a dive near bomb eruption (center) and another the air at upper right. (AP Photo)




A Japanese bomber on a run over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii is shown during the surprise attack of Dec. 7, 1941. Black smoke rises from American ships in the harbor. Below is a U.S. Army air field. (AP Photo)




In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP File Photo)




USS Shaw's magazine explodes during attack.




Sailors watch as the USS Shaw explodes.




This Dec. 7, 1941 image shows a Japanese Navy aerial view of smoking U.S. ships during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Japanese Navy)




In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, U.S. sailors man boats at the side of the blazing USS West Virginia to fight the flames started by Japanese torpedoes and bombs on the battleship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. The Stars and Stripes fly bright against the smoke-blackened sky over the harbor. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)




Torpedoed and bombed by the Japanese, the battleship USS West Virginia begins to sink after suffering heavy damage, center, while the USS Maryland, left, is still afloat in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. The capsized USS Oklahoma is at right. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)




Students of the Lunalilo High School in the Waikiki district of Honolulu watch their school burn after the roof of the main building, at center, is hit by a bomb during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. (AP Photo)




Three U.S. battleships are hit from the air during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Japan's bombing of U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor brings the U.S. into World War II. From left are: USS West Virginia, severely damaged; USS Tennessee, damaged; and USS Arizona, sunk. (AP Photo)




Japanese planes over Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, are shown in this scene from a Japanese newsreel. The film was obtained by the U.S. War Department and released to U.S. newsreels. (AP Photo/U.S. War Department)




In this U.S. Navy file photo, a small boat rescues a USS West Virginia crew member from the water after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. Two men can be seen on the superstructure, upper center. The mast of the USS Tennessee is beyond the burning West Virginia. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese Imperial Navy navigator Takeshi Maeda guided his Kate bomber to Pearl Harbor and fired a torpedo that helped sink the USS West Virginia. President Barack Obama on Thursday Dec. 6, 2012 issued a proclamation declaring Dec. 7 a day of remembrance in honor of the 2,400 Americans who died at Pearl Harbor. He urged federal agencies, organizations and others to fly their flags at half-staff. (AP Photo, File)




A column of black smoke rises from the U.S. Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii at 7:55 a.m., Sun., Dec. 7, 1941 as Japan declared war against the United States. Bombs exploding over "Battleship Row," awakened Mrs. Mary Naiden of New York City, who was serving as a hostess at the Army's Hickam Field. She thought a U.S. plane had crashed into a gasoline or oil depot and took this photo without leaving her room. (AP Photo/Mary Naiden)




Smoke rises from a hangar.




Struck by two battleships and two big bombs, the USS California, right, settles to the bottom during the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. (AP Photo)




Black smoke pours from the U.S. Destroyer USS Shaw after a direct hit by bombs during the surprise aerial attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. Defenders on the pier at left throw water into the blazing wreckage. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)




Rescue workers help evacuate the Lunalilo High School in Honolulu after the roof of the main building was hit by a bomb during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. (AP Photo)




Concentric waves are traced by the direct torpedo hits from Japanese bombs, while murky crude oil flows out, Dec. 7, 1914. The three bright white streaks between the waves are the torpedo tracks. In the distance the conflagration at the field hangars is seen. (AP Photo)




In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, it was just another bright sunny Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor Naval Base on December 7. Then, all of a sudden, came a hail of Japanese bombs and machine gun fire, leaving the burning battleship USS Arizona sinking in the harbor, along with four other warships destroyed on Dec. 17, 1941. (AP Photo)




In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, a pall of smoke filled the sky over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, after the Japanese attacked. In the foreground is the capsized minelayer, the USS Oglala, and to the left appears the moored USS Helena, 10,000-ton cruiser, struck by a bomb. Beyond the superstructure of the USS Pennsylvania, and at the right is the USS Maryland, burning. At right center the destroyer Shaw is ablaze in drydock. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)




In this image provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, destroyers in drydock at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii are battered by bombs after Japanese sneak attack on Dec. 7, 1941. Background in dock is battleship Pennsylvania, which suffered only minor damage. Destroyers are Downes, left, and Cassin, right. Machinery and fittings were transferred to new hulls and the destroyers were never stricken from Navy's active list. (AP Photo/U.S. Department of Defense)




In this image provided by the U.S. Army, the wreckage of a Japanese bombing plane shot down near a CCC camp, Hawaii during the raid on Dec. 7, 1941. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)




In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, giant hangar at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor is fringed in flames caused by Japanese bombs which wrecked the installation, Dec. 7, 1941. Planes on aprons and runways were burned and shattered. Wreckage of some may be seen in foreground. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)




In this photo provided by the Department of Defense, U.S. aircraft destroyed as a result of the Japanese bombing on Pearl Harbor is shown, Dec. 7, 1941. Heap of demolished hanger in background Army amphibian in foreground. (AP Photo/DOD)

FDR Gave This Speech After Pearl Harbor. Hopefully There Will Never Have To Be Another Like It.

December 6, 2013, 9:53 am

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Saturday marks the 72nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and a day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt presciently predicted would "live in infamy."

At 12:30 p.m. on December 8, 1941 -- a day after Japanese planes launched a sneak attack on U.S. forces stationed in Hawaii, killing more than 2,400 soldiers and civilians and wounding over 1,000 more -- Roosevelt stood before a Joint Session of Congress and called for lawmakers to authorize a formal declaration of war against Japan. Within an hour of the speech above, the United States had officially entered World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history.

The U.S. hasn't officially declared war since, though it has been involved in numerous military engagements, often authorized without congressional approval. With the advancements in military technology and proliferation of nuclear weaponry since World War II, it seems highly unlikely that humankind -- or at least massive parts of it -- could survive another war of this size or scope.

Who's Killing Hawaii's Monk Seals?

December 6, 2013, 10:40 am

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Last year, a man on the Hawaii island of Molokai confessed to killing an endangered Hawaiian monk seal — and nothing happened.

He didn't just whisper it to a friend or post it on Facebook. He told a New York Times Magazine reporter that he hit an 8-year-old bull in the head with a rock out of anger and under peer pressure. Millions of people read the story in the May 8 edition titled "Who's Killing The Monk Seals?"

Those readers included federal law enforcement agents whose job it is to protect Hawaiian monk seals, a species that has been classified as endangered under federal law since 1976.

Now, the federal agent overseeing the case, Paul Newman, says there are few leads to go on although the incident is still under investigation. So he wouldn't say if officers had interviewed the young man who'd confessed. He also wouldn't say if police asked locals for help in tracking the guy down as the Times reporter had.

"Molokai is such a tight-knit community that they probably prefer to deal with it in their own way," Newman told Civil Beat. "We can't make people come forward."

From 2009 to 2012, humans are suspected of killing at least eight monk seals in the main Hawaiian islands. Rewards of tens of thousands of dollars have been offered and federal officials say they make serious efforts to investigate cases and bring offenders to justice.

But do they?

The response to the Molokai seal killing as well as the case of a dead monk seal on Kauai in 2009 suggest that, despite the public outcry and strict federal law, enforcement is lacking and punishment is minimal.

Monk seal recovery program volunteers and lawmakers concerned about the species' survival are critical of the legal system's response to the killings. The one case that has been solved resulted in a punishment so light that it is hardly a deterrent, they say. And they question whether it's really that difficult find someone who has confessed to a crime on Molokai, an island of fewer than 8,000 residents.

“The federal government has really fallen down on its responsibility to actively manage monk seals, and that’s part of the reason why the population has declined so severely,” Marti Townsend, director of the Honolulu-based nonprofit KAHEA, told Civil Beat last year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration heads the multi-pronged effort to prevent the species from going extinct, through educational outreach and enforcement of laws protecting marine mammals. The proverbial clock is ticking though. Scientists say the monk seal population has been dwindling since the 1950s and estimate there are only 1,000 or so left.

"Any time a monk seal suspicious death is reported we immediately respond to it and look for witnesses and evidence," said Newman, who is in charge of the four agents who comprise the Honolulu field office of NOAA's Pacific Islands Division.

"We take it very seriously ... but our hands are tied a lot of the time."

Brendan Cummings, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity, considers the Endangered Species Act to be "woefully under-enforced" around the country. But he recognizes the complicated and sensitive dynamics at play — especially in Hawaii — that must be considered in how best to protect a species.

With the monk seal, the most important thing for the seal’s recovery aside from preserving its habitat is putting a stop to people killing them, Cummings said.

Part of that is deterrents — that it’s illegal and there are severe consequences — and part is education and outreach.

"The bigger issue is not whether the person who admitted to killing it is prosecuted or not, but whether in the end there’s a better coexistence with monk seals," he said.



Anatomy of a Monk Seal Investigation

Four years ago, NOAA investigated Hawaii's only monk seal killing that resulted in a conviction.

Charles Vidinha, a Kauai resident, received a three-month jail term and a $25 fine for killing a female seal in 2009.

Vidinha got a light sentence compared to what he could have received. Under the federal Endangered Species Act, the maximum penalty is a year in prison and a $50,000 fine. State lawmakers later beefed up penalties under state law, making it a felony.

A detailed look at the case provides a window into the challenges faced by law enforcement in finding and prosecuting crimes against animals that some locals, including angry fishermen, think are better off dead.

Civil Beat reviewed the case records and interviewed agents who investigated and tracked down the suspect. We were unable to reach Vidinha, who has a record of homelessness.

The female monk seal was found dead at Pilaa Bay on the north shore of Kauai. The seal was about three weeks away from giving birth to a male pup.

Two local hikers making their way down the cliffs toward the beach heard three gunshots and snapped photos of the scene. The images captured the seal as well as a white Ford pick-up truck parked in the near distance. The photos would become key evidence in the case.

When federal agents from the Honolulu office landed on Kauai they found a 600- to 700-pound seal laid out on a table in a parking lot in Lihue. Her skin was rolled back exposing the fetus, that measured about three feet long.

Two bullets from a .22-caliber rifle had hit the seal. One went through the chest, piercing a lung, before exiting her body. The second hit the fetus, lodging in the amniotic fluid and filling the mother’s abdomen with blood, according to the autopsy report.

The property near where the dead seal was found belonged to Jimmy Pflueger, a retired car salesman, who in July was found guilty of reckless endangering in connection with the deaths of seven Kauai residents when he allegedly altered a dam on his property, causing a massive flood. The plea was in exchange for the state dropping manslaughter charges.

Two agents, Brandon Jim On and Take Tomson, took a ride down to the beach in the back of a pick-up truck with a man who worked odd jobs on the property — Charles Vidinha.

But an examination of the scene turned up no new clues.

For his part, Vidinha told the investigators that he'd gone to Pilaa Beach with his dog Ace the day before to unload firewood for the Memorial Day weekend party. He drank a couple of beers and cut coconuts, throwing the husks into a stream. He said he didn't own any firearms, didn't hear any gunshots and had never seen a monk seal at Pilaa Beach.

Vidinha, 78 at the time and divorced, lived alone, sometimes in a small shack in Anahola and sometimes in his truck, selling bottles and doing odd jobs.

The truck turned out to be the same truck that was in the photos snapped by the hikers who had discovered the dead seal. The pictures showed the seal swimming away from shore and Vidinha's white truck parked in front of the beach.

Vidinha became the prime suspect.

Police and federal agents later linked the bullets taken from the seal to a gun registered to Vidinha.

At 6 a.m., 15 agents from NOAA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kauai Police Department rolled up in four-wheel drive vehicles at the Anahola property. Vidinha, who'd been sleeping, answered the door. No weapons were found but Vidinha later said in court that he'd destroyed the rifle.

Ultimately, an acquaintance of Vidinha's told agents that the man had confessed to killing the seal, saying that he shot it to scare it away from the beach where he was planning to fish. Vidinha didn't want the seal eating the fish he hoped to catch.

Vidinha was arrested three weeks later and released on a $10,000 bond. While awaiting his trial he was ordered to live at Hope, Help and Healing Kauai, a home that provides treatment for substance abuse.

On Sept. 25, 2009, he pleaded guilty and served his 90-day sentence at the Honolulu Federal Detention Facility.

The plea agreement noted that, "Vidinha deeply regrets his actions and he apologizes to the entire community."

On and Tomson said the light sentence was due to Vidinha's age and poverty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg, who prosecuted the case, told reporters covering the sentencing the same thing.

Vidinha had never been in trouble with the law, he was broke, living out of a car and essentially homeless, Silverberg told the Honolulu Advertiser in September 2009.

"The defendant claims he was just trying to scare the seal because he wanted to go fishing and was just concerned the seal would eat the fish," he said. "We have nothing to refute that."

But some Hawaii lawmakers criticized the prosecutor's office, saying the punishment was too lenient and successfully pushed forward legislation that made it a felony to harm or kill threatened or endangered species. The measure increased the penalty to a maximum five years in prison for killing a seal.



'Local Justice'

The Hawaiian monk seal is only found in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. NOAA has been considering expanding protections for the seal around the main Hawaiian Islands, following a petition by environmental groups seeking to enlarge the critical habitat area, but it's been met with resistance.

Increasing numbers of the seals, which in decades past have mostly confined themselves to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, have been showing up in waters around Oahu, Kauai, the Big Island and Maui County.

The proposed protections have sparked anger from local fishermen who view the seals as a threat to their livelihood. Speculation has been growing that the rise in hostility toward monk seals was prompting the killings.

Since 2010, three monk seals have been found dead on Molokai, two of them bludgeoned to death, and a fourth monk seal showed up dead on Kauai. NOAA is investigating the deaths as suspicious.

There hasn't been another suspicious death since last year, but there have been cases of harassment that NOAA has investigated.

In January, someone shot a seal in the head with a speargun on Oahu but it survived.

In another incident earlier this year, the same teen who posted a video of himself and his friends laughing while pulling a tiger shark ashore on the Big Island also posted photos of himself and a friend flashing shakas in front of an angry female seal and her pup, Newman said.

NOAA, working with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement, investigated that case and sent the two kids "warning letters."

Newman said the kids were remorseful and the offense was a "first time kind of thing" so the punishment was appropriate.

"They got what was coming to them," he said.

Plus, Newman said, there is what he calls "local justice."

The kid is haole, he said, and word got out that he was harassing the seals. He declined to say any more about it on the record.

"Local justice" was also the only outcome for the young Molokai man featured in the New York Times article. The story reports that community activist Walter Ritte found out who the man was, went to his house and talked to him about the seal.

Ritte did not return a message seeking comment for this story.

Ritte told the New York Times reporter that the man was remorseful over the killing and that he'd gone from thinking the seals were a nuisance to fishermen to seeing them as a species fighting for survival much like Native Hawaiians.

Cummings, the Center for Biological Diversity attorney, said it's important to put monk seal killings in a social context. This affects the ratio between enforcement and outreach, he said.

"It is a conundrum in many different ways."

5 Trips To Book After A Breakup

December 6, 2013, 11:23 am

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Let's face it: after a breakup, sitting teary-eyed on your couch while eating copious amounts of chocolate can get old pretty darn fast.

And while the thought of being alone may be horrifying and emotionally impossible, a new adventure may be just what you need to rediscover yourself.

After all, no one ever said a broken heart would be easy, but it doesn't have to be boring.

1. Make new friends in Bocas Del Toro, Panama.

This charming group of Caribbean islands will slow down your life in all the right ways. Conde Nast Traveler's Peter Stevenson describes the pace of the islands' capitol as "deliciously slow and seductive." And what better way to forget the-one-who-shall-not-be named than by sharing stories with backpackers who are "happy and dusty and somewhere between drunk and stoned."


2. Find zen in Bali, Indonesia.

You can Eat, Pray, Love yourself back to happiness in one of the most majestic places on Earth. There are a slew of intricate temples and yoga and wellness retreats that will help you clear your mind and make sense of all the chaos in your life.

If quiet time just isn't your thing, you can zip through the island on a motor bike and visit the charming villages and friendly locals that will put the warmth right back into your heart. A trip to Kuta, the center of Bali's nightlife, will be a welcome distraction as you dance your worries away until dawn.


3. Feel at one with nature on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

Put yourself in the middle of a lush green valley and try to remember what you were upset about, we dare you. Hawaii's island of Kauai is less crowded than touristy Oahu or Maui and it's lifestyle is all about embracing nature. The incredible ocean views from the Napali Coast is a surefire way to erase your mind of any anguish you had back at home and the swift flowing streams and light pour of rain will reinvigorate you.


4. Feel small at the Iguazú Falls in Brazil/Argentina.

These powerful falls and dramatic cliffs you will make you feel very, very small -- but in the best way possible. Let the deafening waterfalls drown out any haunting memories and allow them to wash away with the river. The metaphorical cleansing will feel restorative. The falls, which straddle the Brazil-Argentina border and are one of the seven natural wonders of the world, will make you forget that you were ever hurting in the first place.


5. Reevaluate your problems in the Philippines.

A trip to the Philippines can be a very humbling experience, putting your romantic problems into perspective. In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, the Philippine Tourism Board has been urging people to plan their next vacation in the Philippines in order to help boost the country's tourism industry and local economy.

You can donate some of your time and services to the country's most impacted islands on Leyte and Samar, or you can visit any of the other 7,000 islands in the Philippines, many of which rely heavily on tourism. You may just find that helping to heal a community in need is the perfect way to heal yourself.

Hang in there, we're rooting for you!