Hawaii: Too pretty to take seriously?

One of the many goals of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation planners was to give Hawaii a more serious, nuanced image, something more than its current playground-of-the-Pacific appeal.

While the 50th State hopes they succeed in the long run, there’s no evidence of that yet, less than a month out. Take, for example, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s latest volley against the man he’d like to unseat. Though the dates of President Barack Obama’s yearly Hawaii vacation are still unconfirmed, Romney characterized the notion of a 17-day break here as "golf in the sun." Bush reportedly took more vacation time at this point in his first term, but it’s the sun-and-surf, exotic Hawaii groove that still rankles.

Nice try, APEC, but no cigar.

Bursting at the seams with saints

Clarence Kahilihiwa, resident of Kalaupapa, mused whether there was any community quite so small that was home to two Catholic saints.

The question comes up because Blessed Marianne Cope is being considered for sainthood for tending to Kalaupapa, along with St. Damien of Molokai, when it was a colony for patients with Hansen’s Disease.

Both Italy and India have claims on the title of Most Sainted Country, but it depends whether you mean Catholic or Hindu saints.

Then there’s the issue of martyrdom, which is the more direct route to Catholic sainthood because miracles are not required. There were groups of converts in small mission communities in Korea, Japan and elsewhere who were sainted because they were executed for the faith.

But sainthood by the slow road? Kahilihiwa may have a point.