I've met U.S. Senator Maizie Keiko Hirono, but really don't know her. Frankly, I've always thought that while she was well-meaning, she was also wishy-washy and a largely ineffective politician, possibly because she served on committees that in my days were of no concern to me.
Maizie was born in Fukushima (where the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami caused the nuclear disaster) Prefecture, Japan, just after the end of World War II, and suffered through a very difficult childhood. Her mother, actually, was a U.S. citizen who lived a good part of her early, and later, life in Hawaii, for her (meaning Maizie's mother) mother was a picture bride. You can read the details (Maizie is to the left in this photo), but her mother divorced her no-good father, and moved back to Hawaii with older brother and her.
She graduated from Kaimuki High School, earned a psychology degree from the University of Hawaii, then a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown. She returned home and served in a variety of elected roles, including the U.S. House. In 2012 she beat former governor Linda Lingle for her Senate seat, becoming the first elected female Senator from Hawaii and first Asian-American women elected to the Senate. Of course, was the first senator born in Japan. While not particularly religious, she is also the first Buddhist senator. Hirono has been on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and also on Energy and Natural Resources. She has been at the forefront on women's rights, and earned an F rating from the National Rifle Association for her gun-control advocacy.
I guess I'm not fully up on how immigration works, but at the age of 12 Mazie became a naturalized citizen. There are 23 people in Congress who were not born in the country. She is running against Republican Ron Curtis for re-election this Fall, and will win in a landslide.
Horrors, but in May of last year she was diagnosed with stage 4 (worst as you can get) kidney cancer, which had spread. Statistically, she has an 8% chance to survive for five years. I must say, though, that she looks healthier than I've ever seen her, and a whole lot more active. She probably went through a cathartic period and has come out swinging since then.
In particular, she has become a serious thorn in the side of President Donald Trump, who, I suspect, she considers to be loathsomely unfit for his office. Last month she accused President Trump of being "an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal matter," and said that Brett Kavanaugh did not deserve the courtesy of a meeting with him. She tossed in "okole" into the statement, as shown to the right.
"Guess who's perpetuating all these kinds of actions? It's the men in this country," said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, after edging past Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and stepping up to the microphone. "And I just want to say to the men in this country, just shut up and step up. Do the right thing — for a change."
In the past, she was courteous, circumspect and boring. Now, she is leading the Democratic charge to dismiss Kavanaugh. Hawaii gave Donald Trump 30% of our votes in 2016. Then Lieutenant Governor Doug Chin (here with the Senator) led the national effort to overturn the President's travel ban. Something tells me this can't be good for my state. However, the Trump administration has swiftly approved anything that Governor David Ige has asked regarding Lower Puna Eruption and earlier floods.
In my fantasy world, Democrats will gain control of the U.S. Senate on November 6. Mazie Hirono gets re-elected to serve two more terms and become a respected and effective U.S. Senator. Even if Kavanaugh goes on to become a Supreme Court justice, she will now always be one of my favorite heroes. I suspect, though, that he won't.
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There are six ocean storms:
Hurricane Rosa will roll over Baha, and right behind is Hurricane Sergio (note, they are up to the 19th letter, s) who will probably follow a similar path. Below Hawaii is Tropical Storm Walaka (but this is not the 23rd of the season, as they name them differently in the Central Pacific)
Typhoon Trami pummeled Okinawa, but they are well-prepared for these storms. Next, skirting right by Shikoku and making landfall over Honshu in a few hours as a Category 3, with a path close by Nagoya, Sendai, and back into the Pacific where the devastating tsunami hit in 2011:
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