Billionaire Philanthropist Oxymoron

I have a real problem with not judging billionaires, especially ones that are called humanitarians or worse, philanthropists.  Think about it, you would need to have a billion dollars to be considered a billionaire. A billion dollars is one thousand million dollars. Now I ask you, does anyone really need a thousand million? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary a philanthropist is one who makes an active effort to promote human welfare:  a person who practices philanthropy.

See Wikipedia's definition of philanthropy:
  ·
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life"—balancing the social-scientific aspect emphasized in the 20th century, with the long-traditional and original humanist core of the word's ancient coinage. This formulation distinguishes it from business (private initiatives for private good, focusing on material prosperity) and government (public initiatives for public good, focusing on law and order).^[1]


If he truly were a humanitarian/philanthropist, wouldn't he be even happier settling for 
multimillionaire status?  

Check out my friend Ronald Hatfield: http://www.facebook.com/ronhatfield and then check out his philanthropic baby: http://www.facebook.com/quietway 
And he isn't even a multimillionaire!
 




While I do not subscribe to any organized religion, I do keep the seventh day sabbath holy as instructed:
Exodus 31:14

You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 

This Saturday I will be keeping the Sabbath holy by exposing all those billionaires who give just enough so the IRS will leave them alone.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I hear the voices of my  critics saying, "Oh get off your soap box!"  Not until the day I die, and maybe not even then if God has something else for me to do. 

 “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it” – George Santayana

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing” --- Albert Einstein

Annie

I have suffered from insomnia for most of my adult life.  The older I get, the less time I am able to sleep.  This could be because I also suffer from debilitating acute tendinitis, and degenerative disc disease.  I don't fall asleep, I pass out from shear exhaustion and never sleep more than an hour at a time.  I am woken up in agonizing pain. I don't make a habit of telling anyone about this because it's futile and really, who wants to hear it?  

 As 5:00A.M. was approaching this morning, I felt the familiar bobbing of my head and knew it was time to shut my computer off and go to bed.   I don't know what possessed me to do it, but before clicking on the shut down button, I thought to google search Annie once again.  I hadn't heard from her since November and she hadn't picked up the birthday card I sent her, and since we reconnected in September 2006 we emailed each other at least once a week.  I had google searched her name every week or two since November, the first two months she was MIA, to no avail and then, well, I guess it was easier for me to think maybe she had read my book and found something objectionable and got mad at me.  While that would have been totally out of character, I didn't really want to know the alternative scenario.  My concern for my dear friend got the better of me and so this morning I once again checked her out.  For the next hour I sat there feeling dizzy and sick and lost and numb as I stared at the newspaper clipping: 

 Annie M. age 72, former resident of New York, passed away in her sleep at home in  California on November 15th, 2011.

The only other person that I had a similar relationship with was my father and when he died in 1974, it was Annie who comforted me.  Now when I need her most, she's gone, and I'm never again going to get one of her Jacquie Lawson cards that say how proud of me she is.  Oh yes, I do have my little sister and my daughter and granddaughter, but with Annie, I was the kid, and frankly, I don't want to be the wise old lady all of the time.

As I wrote in my book, all I ever had to do was mention a need, and the next day, Annie would leave it on my nightstand.  Last year I happened to tell her that I really loved her cards, and what-da-ya know,  on my 61st. birthday, Annie sent me a two year subscription to Jacquie Lawson cards. So now, for the next year, I am going to have those cards to send, reminding me of Annie's generosity.  Heavy sigh, how am I going to make it through without her?

Here's another problem:  Annie is not her name.  When she saw the back of the first book on Amazon.com, she quickly wrote,  "I thought you said you were going to change my name to Annie."  I had forgotten that she didn't want her name out there.  So I told her not to worry, I would change it, it would be a pain in the butt, but I loved her and would honor her wishes.  Now, should I send her sister the book, or do I still keep her anonymous?  Annie was her sister's last living relative, other than her husband and kids.  I know they weren't too close, living in opposite ends of the country, but still.... I never thought to ask her if I could divulge her name once she was gone, I never imagined she would be gone before me.  

Well, I think I have come with a solution, since I no longer have Annie to vent to, I will not hold back anything, I will write it all here.   

   This was Annie's favorite, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Aloha dear, dear friend, <3 love to infinity<3

 

Snorkeling, part 2

  Now where was I?  Oh yes, Makena beach.  For those of you who don't know where that is, it is up past Wailea, which is up past Kihei, where I lived.  Here's a detailed map:

 http://www.hawaiiconnection.com/wailea-maui-map.htm

Oh, and this is interesting:

 http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/North_America/USA/Hawaii/Maui/makena/

I had back surgery thanks to my swimming at Makenna.  Those waves are treacherous!

So, Richard and I got to Makenna at around 2:00P.M.  so we had plenty of time to snorkel before the sun began to set.  Sunset is dinner time for sharks and Makenna has had their share of shark attacks.  It was all good though, I'm not a novice, I know to wear a blue bathing suit to blend in so I don't look like a shark treat:)  I had my snorkel buddy, and the sun was still high in the sky. I know all the safety rules.  

Here are just a few of the fish I saw: 

I know that the fish aren't really as close as they look, just as I know that the the ocean floor is not so close that one could stand up without an underwater breathing apparatus. 

OMG, these guys are so beautiful and so plentiful.  Look here at this one and turn slightly to the left to see another amazing tropical fish, turn back and see still another.

 Hmmm, is it my imagination, or is the water starting to look a little murky and dark?

Maybe it's going to rain.


Well, shark don't know the difference between rain murky and dark from dinner time murky and dark. 


Maybe I should lift my face up out of the water and see where Richard is, Ya think?

Did I remember to tell you about how no matter what boat I went on, the captain would say we would have 2 hours to snorkel before he would blow his whistle to call us in, and how I would no sooner jump into the water and he'd be blowing that stinkin whistle.  Well, have you guessed what happened?  It wasn't going to rain, the sun was setting.  When I looked around, the beach was about as far away as Molokini was and I was in the middle of shark territory all by myself!

Seen in the distance Molokini is approximately 2.5 miles away from Makenna beach.

Now, I'm a good swimmer, I had my daughter swimming up the rapids with me at the Catskill creek by the time she was 7, strong like bull, but I'm sure I broke records that day flying across the ocean with my heart in my throat.  Gotta love those flippers:)  Richard said he had looked for me but I had gotten so far away he couldn't see me.  He went back to the beach thinking I had done just that.  Now ask me if I ever went back to Makenna, NO!!!  I can't be trusted.  I just had to be satisfied with snorkeling off the snorkel boats. 

"I'd Rather Be Snorkeling"

My daughter was 16 when we moved to Maui.  She had quit school that year, due to the never ending bullying, God I hate bullying!  The following year, she took the entrance exam at Maui Community College and scored 2nd. year of college and so they let her in without even a GED.  My girl has an IQ of 180 and retains what she reads;  Well, she did in those days anyway.  

I became the sole cook at the homeless shelter in Puunene, Hi. where I cooked breakfast and dinner for up to 100 people 6 days a week.  I also made snacks for the children coming home from school.  This was my most rewarding job of all time.  


Soon after I became the shelter cook, another woman started working there for a short time, and we became friends almost instantly.  Homeless shelters can have such a negative effect on you if you don't have the spirit for it and my friend quit as soon as she got a job as a concierge in one of the big hotels in Lahaina.  Two years later, the shelter went state and I was replaced by a dietician.  I was forced to find fast employment elsewhere or leave the island I loved. I had put myself through college waitressing so got a waitress job, first in Lahaina, then in Kihei. On Maui, the most profitable job can be waitressing if you really love it, I did.  I worked from 2-10pm, 5 days a week and made enough money to cover my rent, my car, and still do pretty much anything I wanted to do.  

Working as a concierge, my friend was encouraged to go on all the excursions Maui had to offer and she was allowed to take a friend with her,  I was that lucky friend. We looked down at the sun as it rose on Haleakala,  

 We went to various luaus, on different snorkeling excursions and even went on a helicopter ride around the island.  It was snorkeling off Molokini that I really felt that I was at home.  Here I am, this beautiful mermaid trapped in this overweight old wahine hoale and I'm stuck.  The captain of the boat I  just jumped from announced that in two hours he would blow his whistle for us to come back on board, however, I no sooner jumped in the water when he blew that stinkin thing.  It didn't just happen once, but every stinkin time I went snorkeling no matter which boat I went on.  When my friend Richard came to visit me I was finally able to go to Makena beach after one of those excursions and snorkel for as long as I liked.

To Be Continued....

TV Censorship and lack of it

     I meant to write this on my birthday, Feb. 14th. I was so happy to get a Happy Birthday greeting from "That Girl"  yep, that's right, Anne Marie, AKA Marlo Thomas.  I started watching her the first time that show aired because I loved her father.  It was love at first sight.  Now I watch the show on ME TV  do y'all get that station?  It's my favorite.  I love those old shows that gave us enough credit that they knew we could figure out what they were doing when they closed the bedroom door.  I mean, Ricky and Lucy, and Mary and Rob had twin beds and yet the Ricardo's had Little Ricky and the Petrie's had Richie,  and they didn't have to show us how they got them.

     Well, while I'm on the subject of the censors, what's up with the language?  Even on family shows they use words I would have and did get my mouth washed out for using.  I learned very quickly what words were not appropriate to use.  How can a kid be expected not to use vulger language when he hears it on his favorite programs?  And you can't say that it's what the people want, because Mr. Bill Cosby didn't allow such potty mouth words on his show and his was the most watched, longest running, all time favorite and favorite rerun show ever! Yay, Mr. Bill<3

Thank you, and goodnight:)

OMG, I have been tweeted by: Mackenzie Astin and his mom, Patty Duke, Ruth Buzzi, Rosie O'donnell, Robin Roberts, and even that Hot Golden girl, Betty White, but yesterday my daughter and granddaughter's mouths dropped open when they saw who had tweeted me early that morning.  Who's hotter than Betty White?  Apparently, their favorite author, Piers Anthony is!  Now my girls think I'm a celebrity:) 

I'm backkkk

And she's back:)  My little sister Jewel, and oh yes she is a Jewel, told me that I'd better write this or else.  She lives in NY, I live in FL so what is she going to do if I don't write?  I know that she has my best interest at heart so I'm writing.

I have been in a rut these past three weeks, I don't know why I allow people to affect me this way but since I haven't heard from my older sister, I just haven't been up to writing anything.  

My book took me five years to write, and she was very much aware of it's content, so why she waited until it was published to tell me that I shouldn't air our dirty laundry is beyond me.  Well, it's done and I am not going to change it.  

My mother got her hands on the book and began reading it today.  I guess I won't be hearing from her any time soon, not that we had any kind of relationship before, we didn't.

Several people have told me that I was an inspiration and I do hope that proves true, that really was the point in writing the book in the first place.  

I am very thankful for all the good friends and good wishes they have sent me,  so to yous I say,

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.