Blog Archives

Guest Post: Rage, sadness and determination – Gary Hooser reflects on the 2020 legislative session & minimum wage issue

Posted on February 2, 2020 by freecatholic808 — Leave a comment

This blogpost is a re-publication of an important personal message that just went out from the founder President of the Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action and former Majority Leader of the Hawai’i Senate, Gary Hooser. It points us to actions…

Guest Post: Fundraiser for KIDS IN NEED OF DEFENSE

Posted on December 28, 2019 by freecatholic808 — 3 Comments

Sharing here a fundraiser created by my daughter, Sheela Jane Menon and her husband, John Fournie, in hopes of bolstering the efforts of those who are helping the thousands of children cruelly separated from their parents at the southern border,…

Tagged with: child internment camps, KIND, separating children from parents
Posted in I BLOG, Politics and Religion, Uncategorized

Hawaii’s Young Progressives Demanding Action (YPDA) are poised to make their voices count!

Posted on December 20, 2019 by freecatholic808 — 1 Comment

On a rainy Friday evening a few days ago, 17 people gathered for two hours in a meeting room at the Campus Center on the campus of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Their mission: to gather their thoughts about…

Tagged with: automatic voter registration, AVR, olvr.hawaii.gov, VBM, vote by mail, Young Progressives Demanding Action, YPDA
Posted in I BLOG, Uncategorized

John Victor Morais:Teenage immigrant. “Self-made” man. Beloved father.

Posted on December 18, 2019 by freecatholic808 — 3 Comments

Neither of my parents were college graduates. But they were so wise, so open to the world and so adept at pointing all of their children in the direction of higher education that the fact that they had not had…

Tagged with: Gladys Vaz Morais, John Victor Morais
Posted in Family and Friends, I BLOG, Uncategorized

Guest Post: Rev. David Gierlach asks: “Do We Dare?”

Posted on November 18, 2019 by freecatholic808 — 3 Comments

With thanks to Fr. David Gierlach, Rector, St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Honolulu, for permission to publish this sermon. Luke 21:5-19 Why do you suppose that Jesus is warning his friends about what the future holds? After all, in those…

Remembering Gladys Morais who joined the angels Nov 8, 2015.

Posted on November 2, 2019 by freecatholic808 — 10 Comments

Your grandchildren, Zubin and Sheela Jane, sing the Malayalam hymn you taught them. And we sing it now to your great-grandchild. It’s been four years since you crossed over to join the angels, but you still feel very present in…

Tagged with: Gladys Morais
Posted in Family and Friends, I BLOG, Uncategorized

Palestine and Decolonial November (and October): COME HEAR VOICES FROM PALESTINE

Posted on October 23, 2019 by freecatholic808 — 4 Comments

If you are haunted by the continued oppression of the Palestinian people, if you don’t know enough, but are open to hearing more, mark your calendar for this series of talks, part of PALESTINE and DECOLONIAL NOVEMBER (AND OCTOBER!). YOUSEF…

Tagged with: "deal of the century", J. KĒHAULANI KAUANUI, Noura Erakat, Rana Barakat, Yousef Aljamal
Posted in Grace, I BLOG, Palestine, Uncategorized

Do legislators feel the “fierce urgency of now?” Voters want to see that they do.

Posted on October 2, 2019 by freecatholic808 — Leave a comment

This OpEd was first published in the Honolulu Star Advertiser, Oct 2, 2019. I have the privilege of working with various nonprofits on issues of community well-being. These nonprofits are doing courageous work on shoestring budgets, filling the potholes in…

GUEST POST: “Housing is not our mission” cannot be an excuse! Advocates urge re-think of Aloha Stadium development

Posted on September 23, 2019 by freecatholic808 — Leave a comment

Honolulu is the houselessness capital of the United States. It is obscene to read about developers offering $35 million penthouses for sale while several thousand people are living on the sidewalks across the islands. Every branch of government must examine…