Using our Kupunas for political gain

WILL WE THROW OUR KUPUNAS UNDER THE BUS?

Only if our politicians believe that it will hurt the other party.

The Federal Government receives over $200 billion each month in tax payments. That is enough to pay the interest on the bonds they’ve issued, pay Social Security obligations and make good on the paychecks for those serving in our military.

Social Security is a program that required citizens to pay in to under force of law. In exchange, the government promised to pay benefits when the citizen retired. That’s an obligation and our government shouldn’t be so chicken sh arrogant as to threaten to withhold payments on it.

Those who serve in our military should not be second guessing as to whether they’ll get paid. They risk their lives so we can enjoy our Constitutional freedoms. When a person is deployed, he shouldn’t have to worry if his family has enough to pay for food, clothing and shelter. He has enough to worry about. For our country to threaten to withhold that is pilau despicable.

Paying the interest on the bonds that our government issued also must be done. And we have enough coming in that these obligations can be met each month. There is no threat of default if the interest is paid.

If an individual has loans on credit cards amounting to 70% of his income, we can all agree that he’s in serious trouble. He can’t go to the bank and demand that they lend him more money so he can spend more. Unless, of course, he went to private school or to an elite university. All our top dumbbell  much respected government officials went to Punahou and  Ivy League schools.

Our government does exactly that. They pass a law increasing the amount that they can borrow because they can’t control their spending habits.

Where can they cut? As a proud graduate of the prestigious Farrington High School, I'll explain it to you.

1. Suspend all payroll payments to all elected officials and their staffs until the budget is balanced.

2. Suspend all EPA regulations and funding for the agency indefinitely. You will immediately see investors build more refineries and energy prices will go down. You may even see ferries operating in Hawaii, transporting goods and people between the islands.

3. Suspend all regulations and funding that is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

4. Suspend all programs and tax credits used for social engineering, like subsidizing farmers to produce ethanol. Tax credits for installing energy efficient systems should also be suspended indefinitely. Make everyone pay some income tax and suspend all tax credits which amount to welfare payments. If everyone pays something, they take pride in, and ownership of the country.

5. We can save an additional $20.2 billion if we suspend the Department of Education budget. They pay for 10% of each school’s budget but make up 100% of the rules. When the Federal Government collects $1 for anything, only 27 cents actually is distributed to the recipient. The rest is used for bureaucratic payroll and for administering their rules and regulations. Very inefficient.

6. HUD is also another department that we can do without. The sole function of HUD is to enrich community organizers who redistribute wealth. That’s $6.7 billion each month.

If we need to cut more, then the Justice Department could be trimmed some.

“We, the People of the united States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Any department that doesn’t fit in with the above Preamble should be shut down. That includes Social Security, by the way, but the United States Government forced this contract upon the people so that obligation must be fulfilled. Bernie Madoff tried the exact Ponzi scheme and was quickly sent to prison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme Something only our dedicated government officials can get away with.
　

Cheyne Andrade. Refreshing to see some of our young step up

CHEYNE ANDRADE… A FUTURE LEADER THAT’LL GIVE KUPUNAS HOPE

A few weeks ago, I noticed a young man helping at the Center for the Aging, on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center. He had a pleasant personality and stood out among the workers.

http://www.volunteer.va.gov/

http://www.hawaii.va.gov/services/ecrc.asp

I have since found that he is a volunteer at the Center. He seemed to enjoy the music and as I went about the usual chatter that I do while performing and I found that he plays the ukulele and the guitar. So I invited him to join me.

Here's Cheyne with his 12 string guitar

He did so the next time I played there, bringing his ukulele. The next time, he brought his 12 string guitar.

Cheyne (pronounced “Shane”) is a 2008 graduate of Saint Louis High School and is home from the University of Hawaii at Hilo where is will be entering his fourth year. He originally was a Marine Science major and is seeking approval to switch to Pre-Nursing.

Cheyne had a few events in his life that made him realize that he could help relatives, friends and family members if he had “hands-on” knowledge and experience in dealing with health issues, and could better assist in their healing process. Thus, the decision to switch to pre-nursing.

At the Center for the Aging, he volunteers at least four days a week from 8 AM to 4 PM. He often goes in five days a week. His mother works for the Veterans’ Administration at Tripler so he goes into work with her and leaves when she does. Very impressive.

He has also previously volunteered with the V.A. at the E-Wing of Tripler at the State Office. When he’s at school in Hilo, he’s also volunteered at the V.A. in the outpatient clinic.

Cheyne was taught to play the ukulele when he was ten years old by his father. A couple of years later, he taught himself to play the guitar and has been playing both instruments ever since. I admire those who can play both because I get confused trying to convert the fingering whenever switching between the two. I personally use a baritone ukulele whenever called upon to play (which isn’t often because I’m so bad at it) only because the fingering is the same as the guitar.

He’s likely a better piano player than me, having taken lessons for about three or four years when he was younger. But, he’s too humble and polite to say anything.

Cheyne was able to keep up with me whether I played simple contemporary Hawaiian music with three chords or Sinatra type ballads. Very impressive because many aren’t able to do the complicated chords that I use.

Mostly, I’m impressed that someone as young as he is would rather volunteer than to cruise the beach with friends while he’s home from college. He has a very bright future ahead of him. Any business or organization that hires him in the future will have acquired a gem of a human being.

Quality people like Cheyne are hard to find. If more of the young ‘uns are like him, we in geezerdom can have more confidence in our society’s ability to care for the Kupunas.

Elder Abuse by Family Members

ELDER ABUSE BY FAMILY MEMBERS


In my past life as a financial Guru, I’ve had many encounters with unscrupulous CPAs, lawyers, trust officers and bankers who advise elderly clients to transfer assets to their children so that they may be able to qualify for Medicare and other welfare benefits provided by the government.

Many of these “suggestions” are often instigated by the children or other family members who would be the beneficiaries of such transfers. When a person is a financial advisor to others, whether they’re family members or not, he has to remove himself as a potential beneficiary as a result of any advice put forth.

http://malamakupuna.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-kupunas-live-in-fear.html

One case that I’m intimately familiar with involved an older couple with substantial assets, including a house in an exclusive part of Honolulu. The elderly couple had two sons and one daughter.

About 30 years ago, all assets, including the house that the couple owned were transferred to the oldest son as is the custom in a lot of oriental households. Over the years, the elderly couple became restricted to their room. They were able to get their food from the kitchen but had to go back to their room to eat.

The husband passed on a few years ago and the elderly widow became more of a prisoner in her own home. The daughter lived on the mainland and the other son came by once a week to take his mother shopping. That was the only time she was able to enjoy the outside world and to see and talk to real people.

As her health deteriorated, the oldest son placed her in a nursing home. Her younger son visited her weekly and the older son visited sporadically. It was rare that her daughter-in-law visited. Even her grandchildren, who were raised and grew up in her house rarely visited her.

But, she was happy at the nursing home because there were other people that she could socialize with. All costs were paid by welfare or Medicaid.

Another situation I was involved in was where the oldest son was given a “Remainder” interest in the house and the elderly couple retained the “life estate”. The remainder interest means that the house passes to the son only when the elderly couple both pass away. The elderly couple retains all ownership rights to the house while they‘re alive with their life estate.

The elderly father passes on and asked the younger son to protect the mother from the eldest son. In the two months it took to transfer the mother to the younger son’s home, the elder son had already made arrangements to break the life estate by putting himself on title for 50% of the property so he could obtain a loan for a substantial amount.

When the mother passed away, the house didn’t pass to the older son by deed because the life and remainder interests were broken when the son put himself on title. Thus, the mother’s 50% was passed by her will, which gave the younger son everything.

The older son wanted the entire house because he believed he was entitled to it so he ended up suing his younger brother to gain the mother‘s 50%. Once the life estate is broken, the Will controlled how the mother’s half would pass. Needless to say, the brothers are estranged.

The abuse came about because the mother was frail and the elder son bullied her into signing over half the house to him in order to obtain a loan. What’s worse, is that she lived for the rest of her life with the fear that the younger son would find out about the bullying and the transfer.

In many of these cases, the children believe that their parent’s assets are theirs and do whatever they can to keep the assets intact. By transferring the assets, then the government pays for all long term care costs.

Many parents are also of the same mindset. They transfer their assets because they want their children and grandchildren to remember them in a positive way. In my observations, once the assets are transferred, the children and grandchildren will ignore the elderly parents. The elderly become paupers and must live with whatever bone is tossed their way by their children or the government.

These abuses are very commonplace in our society. There are lawyers and estate planners advertising that they can show people how to save your assets and get taxpayers to pay for elder and nursing care.

And we wonder why our government is bankrupt

NANCY KAIMIOLA SWEEZEY... SPREADING ALOHA

NANCY SWEEZEY, A LOCAL GIRL SPREADING A SPECIAL KIND OF ALOHA


I ran across a very special person doing extraordinary things for people who are  facing a difficult period in their lives. She has been volunteering with hospice programs for 20 years and has been using hula as therapy for cancer patients and their families. I wanted the readers to be aware of people like Nancy, who quietly go about their volunteering because she believes she's making a difference in her community and for people in her community.

Nancy was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. When she was about four years old, her father, Master Sergeant Robert Sweeney, was killed in Korea. He was a Silver Star recipient. That was one of the many profound events in Nancy's life that led her to the path she has chosen.

In 1979, when Nancy was 33 years old, she joined the Army where she spent the next 21 years serving her country. She would've likely have been the oldest person at boot camp. Older than the cadre, I'm sure. She did that to honor her father and joined despite her family's disapproval. She even took back her maiden name after her divorce to keep her father's name alive.

In 1991, her daughter Tiare passed away in Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. from an inoperable brain stem tumor. Coincidently, Nancy's mother passed away just 3 months prior to that so it was a trying time for her. This was when she was first exposed to hospice services in Virginia which further molded Nancy's choices in life.

After she was transferred to Hawaii by the Army so she could heal emotionally, she underwent training through Hospice of Hawaii to become a hands-on volunteer. She underwent 18 hours of training and was determined to help the dying and their families transition during this very emotional time in their lives. She has been volunteering at every station that the military assigned her to since then.

Nancy decided to retire from the Army after 21 years and settled down in Washington State to complete her education where she received a B.A. in Psychology and another B.A. in Social Work. She did a thesis on "Death and Dying Across Cultures" in her senior year. Shortly after receiving her degree in 2009, her sister passed away as a result of leukemia and Nancy was able to put her 20 years of hospice experience to use in managing her sister's emotions as well as the emotions of her family.

Many people are afraid to volunteer at nursing homes or in a hospice setting because they fear that getting close to the patients and their eventual death will emotionally depress them. I asked Nancy about that and how she deals with the emotional ups and downs.

She said that she believes that death is a transition into another life and therefore she doesn't experience sadness when a person passes on. And perhaps she has a point there.

Many people look at life and death in terms of themselves and how these events affect them. When one is as giving as Nancy, it is about helping the person and their loved ones to accept death as a transition and only then, can she help them to let go of life.

Nancy still works for the government in finance as a pay officer. While she was completing her college work, she had to do 18 hours of internship. Since she was familiar with the hospice program, she decided to do hospice work for her internship and also included dance therapy for the elderly. Much to her surprise, she learned that many of the breast cancer survivors were young and not elderly as she expected.

The program worked so well that in 2009, the Parks and Recreation department hired her to teach hula as a form of therapy. Her students include people who are breast cancer survivors and well as family members of breast cancer survivors.

They perform at various public functions like the 2010 Dickens Festival.

http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/bars-clubs/photo-hot-spot/art-on-the-ave-tacoma-2010-photos/1444/

Nancy's work has even been touched by a child who was the recipient of the "Make a Wish" Foundation.

http://www.northwestmilitary.com/installations/kids/2010/10/northwest-military-ranger-airlifter-newspaper-JBLM-girl-ready-to-dance-hula-in-paradise-make-a-wish/

Hula wish will come true for Iraq veteran's ill 4-year-old daughter | County G

The dance group dances under the name Kaimiola Polynesian Dance. Kaimiola is Nancy's name that she shares with her grandmother. It means "One who seeks life and to heal" and she fully intends to live up to the name.

Nancy has always considered Hawaii as her home and if things work out, may be making the move to Hawaii in a couple of months if she is accepted by Hawaii Pacific University into their masters program. If that happens, she will be looking to offer hula as therapy for the elderly in nursing homes and continuing her work as a hospice volunteer.

Hawaii will be enriched with the love and aloha that she shares. And our kupunas will benefit from it.