The death of Gordon Hirabayashi closes the chapter on some of the heroic actions taken by three Japanese Americans during WWII. Hirabayashi, Min Yasui and Fred Korematsu were all men who challenged the government over our illegal incarceration in the courts, and their cases went up to the Supreme Court of the United States. They [...]
Rabbit Ramblings
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Gary Locke’s success a reason for celebration
January 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
You might say that we live in interesting times. This coming year will probably be an extremely interesting one, with a high stakes election campaign facing us along with the economic turmoil and instability that makes it increasingly difficult for anyone to plan for the future. So, given that it’s very hard to predict what [...]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: A question of loyalty and ‘Conscience’
October 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It is a wonderful thing that my friend, Frank Abe, took the time and effort to expand on his very good documentary, “Conscience and the Constitution” (originally released in 2000). He has produced a two-disc Collectors’ Edition DVD, and because we now have the technology to add material, Abe’s story of the draft resisters during [...]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: The dilemma of defining and preserving a fragmented community
September 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I took some time off to recharge my batteries, to use an old cliché, and now I’m back. In that interval, our nation has gone through such turbulence it is hard to think clearly about the state of politics, the economy, and the future. Well, daily life goes on and we all have to try [...]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Closely watched owls
March 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Kiyoshi Okamoto, an unsung hero of the camp resistance movement
January 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It was a solemn and moving ceremony in a Buddhist church last month, the funeral for Frank Emi. At 94, his time had come, and so a steadfast American patriot was honored and put to rest at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles. When the light that was Frank’s spirit — which had burned so steadily [...]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: The Japanese longevity letdown
January 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Another year passes, and at this point, I wonder how many more years I have left. Sheer longevity seems like an absurd goal, and I am not interested in living to be 100. I’m told that natto and macha and seaweed will give me health and long life, but I am dubious about these claims, [...]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Interest in wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans continues
October 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
As time goes by, I am struck by the enduring interest in the WWII Japanese American concentration camp experience. I am still writing an occasional book review for an Asian American newspaper in Seattle, the International Examiner, and the books usually have some connection to the camps. For instance, the last two books I’ve been [...]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Less is More
September 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
One hardly expects wit from an economist, so it is really fun to read Nobel Prize-winning writer Paul Krugman’s articles and essays. He has so much to say about the current economy and current events, and his writing is so engaging that even dire news comes across as lively. The nonprofit Truthout published a recent [...]
RABBIT RAMBLING: Save the turtles
August 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I guess we can call this the summer of the great oil spill. Of course, it isn’t really a spill, but an accident of monumental import, because it is all man-caused and seemingly of a nature that humans can’t much control. It is really unbearable seeing pictures of the pelicans covered in oil, dying before [...]
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