Friday, November 11, 2011

Squeezing Out the Little Guy

At 11:00 AM Wednesday, November 9, 2011, the management of The Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort promptly asked the vendors at the Ho'oulu Community Farmer's Market to pack up and leave four hours ahead of schedule. Hotel staff informed each vendor that an anonymous caller informed them that they did not have the right zoning for a farmer's market. The same market that just celebrated its first year anniversary last Wednesday, is now in jeopardy of being shut down. This news did not bode well in the market and a slow defiance began to build. Announcements were made but no one moved, this morning on the foot of Hualalai, a group of farmers, artisans, and patrons lost something dear to them.

For the farmer who works five days a week in the field and the other two days selling produce at the market, the decision decreased their weekly income by half. For artisans who makes their products here on the Big Island, they just lost one of the last two markets in Kona that will not accept products made off island (the other market is the South Kona Green Market). For the patrons that frequent the market, they have lost a place to get their locally grown, organic produce as well as the opportunity to shop for products that are made locally. Colin Gould of Kailua Kona said, "We're in the food business and we're faithful patrons of this wonderful venue, it would be disappointing and heartbreaking if this market is shut down, but sounds to me like politics as usual."

The General Manager of the Keauhou Beach Resort declined to comment about the events. There are a number of theories that started to circulate but Kumu Keala Ching who helped found the market, has no time for such talk "As long as it's from the heart and a benefit to the people it will work out and this market is important to the community." Thirty-two small businesses rely heavily on the market for income and today those families were informed that this holiday season they will have to establish a new way to pay the bills. Karen Kriebl of South Kona said, "In a tough economy it's important for small businesses and farmers to have a venue to promote their products." The issue also touches countless others who rely on the market for nourishment and others who shop there to lower their carbon foot print.

After a three hour breakdown, the people of the Ho'oulu Community Farmer's Market left with more questions than answers. Who was the anonymous caller who threatened the mighty Keauhou Beach Resort and prompted the shutdown of the vendor's livelihoods? Why can't anyone give them a straight answer on how to fix the problem? Will the community sit idly by and watch as the powers that be continue to squeeze the little man out of the picture. The answers to these questions may not save the beloved market but they will shed light on a growing divide between those that have the power and those that don't.

Over the next week a group of vendors from the market will be exploring all their options for the future. If you would like to show support for the market please email your local councilmen and ask them to support local markets that only offer made in Hawaii and grown in Hawaii products.

Duke M Kell.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Direct Democracy at Work

Direct democracy at work


In the waning hours of Sunday October 30th, the Support Occupy Wall Street group met to start dialogue for the future of the movement and the future of the country. Concerned citizens from all walks of life voiced their opinions freely and openly. The aim of this meeting was to start forming a cohesive focus on objectives that the movement can accomplish. It quickly became evident that one objective outweighed all others. Despite many different opinions and lifestyles the one thing that nearly everyone in the room agreed to was a constitutional amendment separating moneyed interests from politics.


Much of the criticism on the movement has to do with the lack of a single focus or goal, but in the meetings that are happening all over the country, this is not the case. There are a growing number of people that are fed up with crony capitalism and ready for a drastic change in the way our government is functioning. One of the many complaints by those entrenched in the two party system has to do with the location of the protests. The reason the protest started in Wall Street and not in Washington is the understanding that those who have the money control the outcome of our government regardless of the party that holds office. A constitutional amendment would cut the ropes that bind our now complicit politicians and deliver our government to its rightful owner, the people.


The money involved in politics is a cancer that we can cure, but like all cancers it will be a tough battle. Those that have benefited from the disease will fight tooth and nail to hold on to their beloved tumor despite the biopsy showing it is fatal. In next year's Presidential election billions of dollars will be wasted on advertising to convince the voters that the cancer is only on the other side of the coin. The Occupy Wall Street group understands that it has infected both sides of the coin but with aggressive therapy all of the cancer can be removed. The question is, do we treat the 1% to save the other 99% or do we accept our fate and pine for a slow methodical death just like all other civilizations that came before us.


The message couldn't be any simpler; the country needs a constitutional amendment that limits the ability of those with money to influence our policy decisions. Once politicians and Supreme Court justices are no longer obligated to compensate their highest paid political donors and backers, we will have a system that works for all of the people and not just the 1%.


Duke M Kell

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Power of Myth

Joseph Cambell on the power of myth.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Secret of OZ

This video sheds some light on our current financial problems here in the western world. And from a writers standpoint is a great example for the use of symbolism.

United Nations speech by Mr. Thomas Banyacya December 10, 1992

This speech was the inspiration for our book "The Point of Origin" I first heard it in 1994 and find that it gets more and more powerful as the years pass by and we continue down the wrong path.

United Nations speech by Mr. Thomas Banyacya
December 10, 1992

“Hopi Spiritual leaders had an ancient prophecy that someday world leaders would gather in a Great House of Mica with rules and regulations to solve world problems without war. I am amazed to see the prophecy has come true and here you are today! But only a handful of United Nations Delegates are present to hear the Motee Sinom (Hopi for First People) from around the world who spoke here today.
My name is Banyacya of the Wolf, Fox and Coyote clan and I am a member of the Hopi sovereign nation. Hopi in our language means a peaceful, kind, gentle, truthful people. The traditional Hopi follows the spiritual path that was given to us by Massau'u the Great Spirit. We made a sacred covenant to follow his life plan at all times, which includes the responsibility of taking care of this land and life for his divine purpose. We have never made treaties with any foreign nation including the United States, but for many centuries we have honored this sacred agreement. Our goals are not to gain political control, monetary wealth nor military power, but rather to pray and to promote the welfare of all living beings and to preserve the world in a natural way. We still have our ancient sacred stone tablets and spiritual religious societies which are the foundations of the Hopi way of life. Our history says our White Brother should have retained those same sacred objects and spiritual foundations.
In 1948, all traditional Hopi spiritual leaders met and spoke of things I felt strongly were of great importance to all people. They selected four interpreters to carry their message of which I am the only one still living today. At that time I was given a sacred prayer feather by the spiritual leaders. I made a commitment to carry the Hopi message of peace and deliver warnings from prophecies known since the time the previous world was destroyed by flood and our ancestors came to this land.
My mission was also to open the doors of this great House of Mica to native peoples. The Elders said to knock four times and this commitment was fulfilled when I delivered a letter and the sacred prayer feather I had been given to John Washburn in the Secretary General’s office in October 1991. I am bringing part of the Hopi message to you here today. We have only ten minutes to speak and time is late so I am making my statement short.
At the meeting in 1948, Hopi leaders 80, 90, and even 100 years old explained that the creator made the first world in perfect balance where humans spoke a common language, but humans turned away from moral and spiritual principles. They misused their spiritual powers for selfish purposes. They did not follow nature's rules. Eventually, their world was destroyed by sinking of land and separation of land which you would call major earthquakes. Many died and only a small handful survived.
Then this handful of peaceful people came into the second world. There they repeated their mistakes, and the world was destroyed by freezing which you call the great Ice Age.
The few survivors entered the third world. That world lasted a long time and as in previous worlds, the people spoke one language. The people invented many machines and conveniences of high technology some of which have not been seen yet in this age. They even had spiritual powers that they used for good. They gradually turned away from natural laws and pursued only material things and finally only gambling while they ridiculed spiritual principles. No one stopped them from this course and the world was destroyed by the great flood that many nations still recall in their ancient history or in their religions.
The elders said again only a small group escaped and came to this fourth world where we now live. Our world is in terrible shape again even though the Great Spirit gave us different languages and sent us to the four corners of the world and told us to take care of the Earth and all that is in it.
This Hopi ceremonial rattle represents Mother Earth. The line running around it is a time line and indicates that we are in the final days of the prophecy. What have you as individuals, as nations and as the world body been doing to take care of this Earth? In the Earth today, humans poison their own food, water and air with pollution. Many of us including children are left to starve. Many wars are still being fought. Greed and concern for material things is a common disease.
In this Western hemisphere, our homeland, many original native people are landless, homeless, starving and have no medical help. The Hopi knew humans would develop many powerful technologies that would be abused. In this century we have seen the First World War and the Second World War in which the predicted gourd of ashes which you call the atomic bomb fell from the sky with great destruction. Many thousands of people were destroyed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
For many years there has been great fear and danger of World War Three. The Hopi believe the Persian Gulf War was the beginning of World War Three but it was stopped and the worst weapons of destruction were not used. This is now a time to weigh the choices for our future. We do have a choice. If you, the nations of this Earth create another great war, the Hopi believe we humans will burn ourselves to death with ashes. That's why the spiritual elders stress strongly that the United Nations fully open the door for native spiritual leaders to speak as soon as possible.
Nature itself does not speak with a voice that we can easily understand. Neither can the animals and birds we are threatening with extinction talk to us. Who in this world can speak for nature and the spiritual energy that creates and flows through all life? In every continent are human beings who are like you but who have not separated themselves from the land and from nature. It is through their voice that nature can speak to us. You have heard those voices and many messages from the four corners of the world today. I have studied comparative religion and I think in your own nations and cultures you have knowledge of the consequences of living out of balance with nature and spirit. The native peoples of the world have seen and spoken to you about the destruction of their lives and homelands, the ruination of nature and the desecration of their sacred sites. It is time the United Nations used its rules to investigate these occurrences and stop them now.
The Four Corners area of the Hopi is bordered by four sacred mountains. The spiritual center within is a sacred site our prophecies say will have a special purpose in the future for mankind to survive and now should be left in its natural state. All nations must protect this spiritual center.
The Hopi and all original native people hold the land in balance by prayer, fasting, and performing ceremonies. Our spiritual elders still hold the land in the Western Hemisphere in balance for all living beings including humans. No one should be relocated from their sacred homelands in this Western Hemisphere or anywhere in the world. Acts of forced relocation such as Public Law 93531 in the United States must be repealed.
The United Nations stands on our native homeland. The United Nations talks about human rights, equality and justice and yet the native people have never had a real opportunity to speak to this assembly since its establishment until today. It should be the mission of your nations and this assembly to use your power and rules to examine and work to cure the damage people have done to this Earth and to each other. Hopi elders know that was your mission and they wait to see whether you will act on it now.
Nature, the First People and the spirit of our ancestors are giving you loud warnings. Today, December 10, 1992, you see increasing floods, more damaging hurricanes, hail storms, climate changes and earthquakes as our prophecies said would come. Even animals and birds are warning us with strange change in their behavior such as the beaching of whales. Why do animals act like they know about Earth's problems and most humans act like they know nothing? If we humans do not wake up to the warnings, the great purification will come to destroy this world just as the previous worlds were destroyed.
(Thomas and Oren Lyons held up a picture of a large rock drawing in Hopiland.)
This rock drawing shows part of the Hopi prophecy. There are two paths. The first with high technology but separate from natural and spiritual law leads to these jagged lines representing chaos. The lower path is one that remains in harmony with natural law. Here we see a line that represents a choice like a bridge joining the paths. If we return to spiritual harmony and live from our hearts we can experience a paradise in this world. If we continue only on this upper path, we will come to destruction.
It’s up to all of us, as children of Mother Earth to clean up this mess before it’s too late. The elders request that during this International Year for the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations keep that door open for spiritual leaders from the four comers of the world to come to speak to you for more than a few minutes as soon as possible. The elders also request that eight investigative teams visit the native areas of the world, observe and tell the truth about what is being done and stop these nations from moving in this self destructive direction.
If any of you leaders want to learn more about the spiritual vision and power of the elders, I invite you to come out to Hopiland and sit down with our real spiritual leaders in their sacred Kivas where they will reveal the ancient secrets of survival and balance.
I hope that all members of this assembly that know the spiritual way will not just talk about it but in order to have real peace and harmony, will really follow what it says across the United Nations wall: ‘They shall beat their swords into plowshares and study war no more.’ Let’s together do that now!”1

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Horror in Hawaii

Check out the new film "Horror in Hawaii" one of the producers Howard Wexler is reading our book and considering it for a future movie.




On the top of Mauna Kea, on the Big Island of Hawaii, some of the worlds most important research is being done, looking into the vastness of space, exploring the past as well as the future.

A small, invasive frog may signal the end of human habitation on this Island, unless a way is found to stop its reproduction.


HORROR IN HAWAII, a 90 minute feature film, will explore the social and ethic ramifications of this phenomena.


A mixture of fact and fiction, tragedy and comedy, we explore the Islands natural beauty, featuring likable and realistic characters, local attractions and food, nightlife and unique residences.


Another side of the coqui onslaught influences locals and tourists alike, forcing some to fend for themselves, when the usual resources fall short.

Filmed entirely in the Hawaiian Islands, and possibly the Governor’s office in Honolulu.

Photographed in unity with the natural elements including rain, volcanic ash and harsh tropical sun.

The problem of an invasive species becoming a pest was due in part to mankind’s inability to harmonize with the natural world, and our story will entertain audiences with an exaggerated depiction of a possible future, as well as delivering a message of hope.

The film will use a computer generated coqui, appearing in several sizes, from life size to monster.

The Common Coquí or Coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui) is a frog from Puerto Rico belonging to the Eleutherodactylus genus of the Leptodacthylidae family. The species is named for the loud sound (sometimes reaching as high as 100 dB at a distance of 0.5 m) the males make at night.

Na Nai'a legend of the dolphins

Check out the new movie by Jonathon Kay, one of the producers considering our book for movie rights.

For fifty million years they've been roaming the oceans of the Earth. The dolphins of the world unite in this fantastic story of their power, their message to humanity, and their survival.

They lived on land and then took over the sea, forming the Great Dolphin Tribe. One day, the sea trembled and middle earth rose up in volcanoes, spilling lava and splitting the land. There was fire in the water, the continents shifted and the tribe became divided. They evolved to become many species and traveled to eight corners of the world. Touched with humor and alive with thrills, breathtaking cinematography captures the incredible beauty and staggering you are there dramatic journey of the dolphins, through the oceans of Hawaii, The Bahamas, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mozambique, and the Amazon River of Brazil. Predators hunt them, Pollution of their environment endangers them, but these intelligent beings continue to live effortlessly as the guardians of the sea.

The story is told by a wonderful cast including KATE WINSLET, ELLEN PAGE, GERARD BUTLER, MEGAN FOX, JAMES FRANCO, JULIAN LENNON,
DIEGO LUNA, CHEECH MARIN, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, ISABELLA ROSSELLINI and DARYL HANNAH.

For the very first time in cinema, after five years in the making, Director and Producer JONATHON KAY brings to the screen this enchanting film about nature's most wonderful miracles.

Lucius Terwilliger

A fellow Denver native I met at the South Kona Green Farmers Market is the creator and singer for this band, Lucius Terwilliger. Here is a sample, of one of his songs, "Time is not money"

Find more artists like Lucius Terwilliger at Myspace Music

Chaco Canyon FOR JENNY

This is an amazing song about Chaco Canyon by Mark Reed Butterfield. Chaco Canyon is one of the main settings in the novel "The Point of Origin" and one of the most fascinating places in the United States.