MLK holiday!

Aloha, everyone ….

It’s Martin Luther King Day, a national holiday which celebrates the life of a man dedicated to peace and racial equality.  A truly great man …

It’s another cool & crisp morning here in Manoa with light northerly trades keeping me in sweatshirt mode … love this weather!   Carla & Kamalei are in Japan this week to represent ‘IOLANI at the International Fashion Fair (IFF) convention over at Tokyo’s Big Sight.  This is part of an organized effort by our state government to help Hawai’i businesses gain more exposure for their products overseas by helping to underwrite some of the costs for the trip.  There is one major flaw with this whole effort – companies are allowed to sell products not made in Hawai’i.  For example, a local exhibitor can participate even though all of its products are made in China.   Now I’ve got a HUGE problem with that – I don’t mind if a small portion of the product line comes from overseas … after all, we can’t produce everything at home.  But to say you represent Hawai’i when almost your entire product line is made overseas is entirely bogus!  Hey, it’s not an “aloha shirt” unless it’s made in Hawai’i!

Ok, enough venting … have a great Aloha Monday, everyone!

“D”