Jason starts the 2026 year with political leader NIKHILANANDA

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MauiNeutral Zone- Jason starts the 2026 year with political leader NIKHILANANDA.

Summary & Transcript Below…

• [00:19 → 07:04] Introduction and Context Setting
  The host introduces the show broadcast on 88.5 FM, Maui’s local station, setting the stage for a political discussion centered around Maui County. He references the remote area of Huelo, highlighting its unique community and introducing his guest, Nikhilananda, a long-time Green Party candidate and local political figure. The host emphasizes the importance of third parties in the political landscape, especially the Green Party’s efforts to stay relevant and impactful in elections. He touches on the fractured national political climate marked by party polarization and the challenges faced nationally and locally, including economic instability and a housing crisis deemed an emergency. The conversation notes the imminent withdrawal of FEMA housing support, which will create further housing instability on Maui. The host anticipates a busy election year with multiple candidates and races, promising to feature candidates on the show post-primary season.
• [07:04 → 13:48] Guest Introduction and Election Year Overview
  Nikhilananda arrives with his dog Radar, introducing a casual and friendly dynamic. The host briefly explains the show’s format—equal opportunity for candidates once the filing period begins. Nick confirms that 2026 is an election year in Hawaii, detailing the upcoming races: mayor, county council, state representatives, state senators, and possibly the governor. He explains the staggered election cycles across Hawaii’s counties and acknowledges the intense national political atmosphere marked by authoritarian shifts and misinformation. Nick highlights the challenge of discerning truth in today’s media environment, especially with the rise of AI-generated misinformation about international conflicts and protests. They discuss the complexity of the political landscape and the need for critical evaluation of information sources.
• [13:48 → 24:42] Personal Background and Political Journey
  Nick shares his personal background, tracing his roots from Brooklyn to New Jersey and then suburban Washington D.C., highlighting early exposure to politics and government through family and environment. He explains his academic path in political science, including undergraduate and graduate studies and his initial foray into student government leadership. Nick recounts a pivotal decision to postpone law school to focus on completing his master’s degree, followed by extensive global travels, including hitchhiking through 50+ countries and living in a spiritual community in India. Upon arriving in Maui in 1986, Nick became deeply interested in local history, especially Maui’s time as an independent nation, which further fueled his political engagement. He and the host were among the first Green Party candidates in Hawaii in the early 1990s, motivated by the party’s four pillars: grassroots democracy, nonviolence, social justice, and environmentalism. Nick stresses that the Green Party’s focus is broader than environmental issues, encompassing social justice and nonviolence, often misunderstood as radical when compared to mainstream politics.
• [24:42 → 37:40] Current Political Climate and Social Issues
  Nick reflects on the drastic shifts in political discourse, including the labeling of moderate Democrats as radicals and the implications of government actions such as the killing of a woman by ICE officers. The conversation broadens to include international concerns such as Venezuela, Myanmar, and Sudan, emphasizing the global instability and the spread of misinformation. Nick critiques the oligarchic and plutocratic trends dominating U.S. governance, contrasting them with democratic ideals. He invokes a 12-step meditation philosophy emphasizing acceptance and action on what can be changed. Locally, Maui faces acute issues: homelessness, unaffordable housing, and the aftermath of the Lahaina and Kula wildfires. Nick highlights the contradiction of growing wealth on the island alongside worsening living conditions for many residents. The discussion underscores the representative democracy framework and the importance of participation in local government to influence policies affecting everyday life.
• [37:40 → 52:58] Community Engagement and Media Influence
  The host and Nick discuss recent local rallies, including opposition to ICE presence, and note the significance of community activism despite low youth turnout. They touch on the role of media and social media influencers, the fragmentation of information sources, and the resulting echo chambers. Nick emphasizes the difficulty for ordinary people to stay fully informed amid polarized and often misleading media landscapes. The conversation explores immigration, noting that the U.S. is fundamentally a nation of immigrants, except for Native Hawaiians and descendants of enslaved Africans. Nick highlights the ongoing struggles for equality and social justice, acknowledging historical progress while warning of current regressions. They stress the urgency for public engagement to protect democratic values and social gains, asserting that now is a critical moment in history for collective action.
• [52:58 → 55:01] Political Persistence and Party Challenges
  Nick appreciates the host’s recognition of his long-term political commitment despite repeated electoral losses, explaining that persistence is common in politics, with many candidates winning on second or third tries. He notes term limits for council members and the challenges third parties face, including stricter petition requirements compared to major parties. Nick mentions ongoing efforts to level the playing field for third parties in Hawaii. This segment concludes with mutual appreciation and an invitation for Nick to return for future discussions.
• [Throughout the Interview] Additional Topics and Personal Notes
• Nick’s dog Radar provides light-hearted moments, serving as an emotional support companion.
• Environmental changes on Maui, such as drought and drying wetlands, are briefly discussed, reflecting long-term ecological shifts on the island.
• The host and Nick discuss the impact of COVID-19 vaccines and mandates, expressing a desire for informed choice and freedom without forced compliance.
• They touch on censorship and language standards in media, including FCC regulations and the differences between radio and TV standards regarding language use.
• Personal reflections on aging, relationships, and community life on Maui enrich the interview, humanizing the political discourse.
  • • Key Insights
• Third-Party Politics: The Green Party’s role as an alternative political voice in Maui and Hawaii faces systemic challenges but remains vital for progressive and inclusive policies.
• Housing Crisis: Maui’s housing emergency is critical, exacerbated by FEMA’s withdrawal and rising unaffordability, leading to increased homelessness and outmigration.
• Misinformation and Media Literacy: The rise of AI-generated content and polarized media requires critical thinking and skepticism among the public to navigate truth from falsehood.
• Representative Democracy: Local government participation is crucial to influence policies on pressing issues, especially in a system where elected officials may disregard public input.
• Social Justice and Equity: The ongoing struggle for equality, recognition of historical injustices, and the risk of social regression are central themes calling for active civic engagement.
• Election Dynamics: Persistence in candidacy and the structural hurdles faced by third parties highlight the difficulties in breaking the two-party dominance.
• Personal Commitment: Long-term dedication to local politics, despite setbacks, underscores the importance of perseverance in effecting change.
  • • Conclusion

This in-depth conversation with Nikhilananda provides a comprehensive overview of Maui’s political landscape, the challenges of third-party candidacy, the pressing social issues confronting the island, and the broader national and global political context. It blends personal history, political philosophy, and pragmatic concerns, inviting listeners to become more informed and engaged citizens in a time of significant change and uncertainty.

00:19

I don’t know if you’re hearing me or not, but if you’re not hearing me, it wasn’t critically important. I was just giving you some station identification. mauineutralzone.com. If you’re live, you’re listen on 88.5 FM KAKU, the voice of Maui. And I have a guest that hasn’t yet arrived. He came in from the outer netherlands of Huelo. And Huelo is really Haiku by postal zip codes, but it’s Who. Way back way back way back. I lived I call it way back in 1992 and 90 goodness gracious way back then I

01:04

was living in Huelo myself next to uh Moke Kahiamoe and Jonathan I don’t know Jonathan’s last name I might remember it and um good place in fact Kat Tracy who’s here at AKAKU lived out there. And um Doug and Guy, that was a really interesting end of the road down Door Faith Road to the left and down into the valley. It’s still a beautiful remote place, but on another road there, there’s a house and a bunch of houses and that’s where Nikhilananda lives. and he has been running for uh the seat there, the

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county council seat way back when, but also the uh state house of representatives as a Green Party candidate and has been very involved in keeping the Green Party alive and on the ballot, but also looking to win an election here. Um there’s all kinds of reasons that a political system that has a third party is a you know we should have an open thing with no parties. Well, we try and some of that in our county and for some things we do have party affiliation and God knows there’s this party affiliation

02:33

going on nationally that we see what it’s doing and paralyzing and to some people it’s progressing our country and turning us into an economic crazy land with a social crazy land, a international hawk, a war hawk. talk. I thought this guy was talking about peace. A piece of what? How do you go and attack Greenland when all you’re going to do is ask? What are you doing trying to make them your country? What is it? What is it with with leaders that think that it’s important to acquire

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more territory? What’s so critical? What is he thinking? I’d like to explore that, but not here. This is a political year. We even have well hopefully we’re going to have guests like Yuki Sugimura who’s going to be running against among others Richard Bissen our current mayor here in Maui County and I know there are a number of council seats that should be contested this year with with Yuki Lei getting out of her cooler seat where she’s been all these terms. Um there’s going to be new blood there

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and we’re going to see all kinds of activity this year. I am sure of it. Some of that if we’re going to have all the candidates in a race, uh then they’ll be on our show. But before the primary, you’re not likely to see me open the doors to any political candidates. Before the political season started, I’m taking the liberty to start this year off with a man that is really so committed to the betterment of our county and has been so involved in politics here for so long, as long as

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I’m here. And uh I like to say he’s older than me. He’s a few months older than me. Nikhilananda. Now, many people know his name cuz he’s been running and running. But because he’s Green Party, they maybe do or don’t listen exactly to what he’s saying cuz they’ve been affiliated with other parties and um pretty well trust their leadership to help with their own guidance many times to select the best candidates they feel from their party. So a green is like, wait, we’re going to

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have to break our old tradition of voting through our party. Even though we say we’re independent, we generally rely on their leadership uh to help us in choosing the best candidate, right? But now this year things are kind of different. This is post a fire. our economy and the housing issue is really really up. Uh the economy depends who you talk to, but things are lousy. That’s what I’m seeing out there. Things are regional here on Maui. Things are really crazy. There’s no advantages to being local. There’s no

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advantage or any way working in the economy that can be really meaningful to get housing for people that isn’t I mean I call it emergency because to me having no housing is an emergency. I’ve seen the homeless population here up close and personal, not only through some of my guests that are there on the front lines, I want to say, of this housing issue, uh, but also, I’ve seen it personally with people that I know that even when working are forced into being homeless because of conditions on this island.

06:22

Next month, I guess February 9th or 10th, FEMA is withdrawing its financial support. So, there’s going to be a unusual confusional thing going on here cuz all those people that are in the FEMA supported housing are facing uh an abrupt abrupt change happening in their lives. So, that’s going to ripple out. I have people I know already that are retired that are thinking and moving to Thailand because they can’t afford to be here anymore. There’s no way they can afford it. Well, looks like my guest is

07:04

arriving. He’ll just be walking in. We’ll make believe. We didn’t notice. How’s that? So, tell me, Nick. >> Morning, Jason. >> Is that you sneezing or coughing? No, that’s Radar. >> Yeah, this man has a I want to call him a emotional support animal. This dog needs emotional support. Hi, Radar. Hey, young man. >> Yeah, >> please sit. You’ve been in here before. And if not, welcome to the studio. >> I haven’t been here since the >> Let’s give you a microphone. Put it in

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front of where it needs to be. >> Come on. You don’t have to do more than Well, you can check it yourself. >> Good. You have a microphone right there. Let’s see you talk. >> Good morning. Oh, >> and I want to um >> It’s loud, this guy. >> Yeah, I talk loud. So, >> keep talking. Keep talking. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m just saying that I want to get my voice so that it’s not overly loud because I talk. >> Oh, you have to do that by not being

08:04

quite >> And I want to apologize. >> Be quite as close. >> Yeah. I want to Oh, don’t be so close. Okay. How’s that? >> Perfect. >> Um Yeah. First of all, uh apologies for walking in after uh you began. So, apologies to that. I’m sure that when I’m ready to die, I’m going to say, “Wait a second. I got two more weeks of stuff I have to do.” So, but here I am. Anyway, good morning. >> That was quite an intro. >> That was like a five minute, three

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minute kind of you have 30 seconds, but >> that dog is with you everywhere. And if not, oh yeah, he cries more than I do. No, he’s and then within five minutes he’s going to be asleep on the Yeah, he’s already down asleep on the floor. >> Well, let’s get back to things anyway. Okay. Yeah. Well, you know, let me ask you a quick question. >> This is the year of a new election, right? >> A new election. >> New election year, correct? >> It’s an election. It’s an election year.

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>> And it’s not official until candidates start getting in the race and being accountable with all that filing. Yeah. They’ve got >> some of them have talked before they can even file. So, we know some are running. But this show is an equal opportunity uh thing. So, that if you were a candidate now, everyone running in your race wouldn’t have a word to say to me until they’re official. And it’s the season. So, this is like open season. That means if you want to say anything

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about anyone about anything, you have a free ticket to ride. This is 19 wait 2026. You and I since the last century were involved in politics. You much more directly as a candidate most well you it’s been rare that you haven’t run every two years in some fashion for your seat. you are a known quantity not only as a Green Party candidate and leader with the the Green agenda uh which has changed some over the years but it’s pretty basically progressive and I want to say it isn’t left or right. It makes

10:13

sense. It’s uh you know really a common sense kind of deal. Not to be confused with any party that calls itself common sense. I got involved way back when and I like to keep saying you’ve heard me do it many times. You could vote for me and I would be comfortable in leaving the keys to the kingdom with you. So, welcome to our show. This a big honor whether you understand it or not. I just sort of know that you’re a man who has something to say and if I open that mic to you in a moment, you might talk.

10:51

Take it, Groucho. >> Good. Thank you that introduction. Thank you for the introduction. Uh you touched on so many different issues. First of all, before we go on with our discussion, condolences to all the dead heads out there on the passing of Bob Weir. And there’s been quite a few comments and commentary and music on the radio and even on TV about his passing and original member of the Grateful Dead, 17 years old when he joined Jerry Garcia. I believe it was with the Warlocks and then they eventually became the Grateful

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Dead and the rest is history. So again, anyone out there that’s a dead head or has heard of the Grateful Dead, our condolences on the passing of Bob Weir. >> Yes. I believe Bill Kreutzman is the last living original member. >> He was a drummer, right? >> One. Yeah, he was. They had two drummers. Um Mickey Hart was one drummer later on, but originally they had one drummer and that was Bill Kreutzman. >> So to your comments on the election, boy, that’s a mouthful. We could be here

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for hours, right? There’s local races, there’s state races, >> there’s national races. >> We know that. >> And so, well, not everybody does. The amazing things that affect on my show. I’m interested in your opinions. I don’t need education about how this system is put together. If I was putting the system together, I would have been long ago uh off the air. Anyone that doesn’t agree with me, I’m gonna clamp them down. If you don’t agree with me, I’m

12:39

gonna investigate you. And if not, and and I get out and I’m gonna have everything erased and turned upside down, and then I’m just going to spike you and become president. Hey, Radar, you got to jump in here, buddy. >> Oh, uh, no, I don’t want to, uh, interrupt while you’re pontificating. Uh, >> so as far as issues, we we have two ears. I guess two people can be talking. >> Um, is he housebroken? >> Yeah, he’s housebroken, but of course, we’re in a studio, so I don’t know if

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he’s studio broken, but he’s back asleep again. >> He’s happy. I see. >> Uh, so again, yeah, by the way, thank you very much for the uh invite today. It is uh 2026 and yeah, people in the state of Hawaii can start pulling papers I believe on the 5th of February. They have to file them in June. It might be June 10th. Don’t correct on either of those two dates, but it is February and June. And we will have this year the county of Maui will have races for mayor and the county council. The state and all the

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the throughout the entire state all the state representatives will be up and then 12 or 13 state senators and I believe the governor also again I’m going to catch myself right there. I’m not sure if the governor is I believe he’s up for reelection this year too. So we have a mayor and a governor. And in Hawaii the elections for governor mayor are will not net there’s four counties. So two of the counties have elections on off years elections and the other two have them on the years when the

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president is up. So yeah. So it’ll be an interesting time to watch uh this country today. We could spend the next couple hours talking about the unbelievable authoritarian shift in our federal government. And that’s really a challenge to discuss. Every day it’s shock and awe. Something new uh pops up >> at the level of shock and awe. It’s just extraordinary. >> Yeah. on the way over here. Actually, I heard that, you know, we just had this uh this issue in Venezuela and they just

15:00

announced that a lot of the video clips that were put out about the situation there were actually fake videos. They were AI generated. And we all have to get into that perspective about questioning every single thing. It used to be like see it with your own eyes. And it’s shocking to that again even I didn’t think about that that things they were putting out showing Maduro’s arrest and this and that and all that were actually and then what’s going on in Iran and then people with the uh

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>> these are all generated >> not all of them but they’re saying that they’re in some early investigation they found some of them put out showing thousands of people on the street either protesting or celebrating were AI generated. So it makes you just question everything. It’s uh we are definitely challenged. Uh there are >> Have you been able to figure out how to know if it’s AI or not? Is there any kind of symbol or anything to give us a clue? Do you know? >> No, I’m not. Technologically,

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there are more and more people working on being able to tell. There’s the funny thing in the when it first started, people said look at people’s fingers. If they had six fingers, it was fake. Uh however there’s no law and no requirement that something has a notation saying that this is AI generated. It’s not true. So, we’re really challenged again and for me that’s my feeling that a third of the people on Maui and a third of the people in the country support this uh sociocsychopathic

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lying current president and they just believe things that he says and it’s it’s just it’s it’s really challenging. Uh like I said a few moments ago, every day there’s something new uh put out whether it’s local or national or now international. Uh um I was wondering I asked somebody the other day if they thought we were going to change the flag from the 50 stars to 54 or 55 stars as we add Venezuela and maybe Cuba and maybe Greenland and maybe Canada and eventually Mexico. So our flag will

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start getting larger and larger as we incorporate all of these uh other places around the world. So we’re definitely challenged Look at that. I left all that room in there for you to say more. Yeah, you’re right. We are challenged. So, let me bring it back home. >> Yeah. >> First of all, >> back to Maui. >> You’re welcome to redecorate in here if you want. You can keep moving those glasses a few more times. No, it’s >> But I hear them. I just like >> Well, with the camera, I don’t want to

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have my glasses on for the camera, but then I look and where’s the camera? So, >> well, you know, you’ve got your own. See that? It knows you. >> Got it. Okay. Nick Kilananda had a show here. What was your show called? >> Maui Talks TV. Ran >> Maui Talks TV. >> Seven and a half years. >> Seven and a half years on Maui every Tuesday night. >> Many of you people know this face and you say he ran for political office. Yeah, he did. But he was running all

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this time and he’s been an outspoken guy and really you What got you interested in politics? Oh. Uh, I’m not sure if there was a one moment in existence. It probably started coming out of my mom’s womb. My dad was a triple ampute from World War II, was involved in uh veterans issues. And uh I was smart enough to be born in Brooklyn so I would learn how to talk correctly. And then when I was three, my parents moved to New Jersey across the George Washington Bridge. Oh yeah. To Fort Lee, which was

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the original Hollywood of the East. The silent movies were made there. And they made me a three years old move with them. >> So I learn moved to Jersey and I picked up >> forced, >> right? And I was picked I picked up a little bit of the Sopranos accent. And then when I was 12 and a half, I moved to suburban Washington DC in Bethesda. uh famous for of course the location of the National Institutes of Health and the Naval Hospital which is now Walter Reed Naval Medical Center. >> Do you know Anthony Fouchy?

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>> Uh no. Uh I don’t know an I know who he is but I’m not just because I lived in Bethesda just like on Maui. >> You never know. He’s been a long time. >> Now we have Yeah. Now we have all these celebrities on Maui and most of them we have little to do unless you’re involved in music or the arts or something with them. But anyway, you asked me about uh so uh so I was around my dad and living in Washington DC or in the suburbs of Washington DC in Maryland. The local

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economy is the federal government. So you’re just inundated by that. I went off to college at Bradley University in Pory Illinois and I majored in political science. came back to DC and I was the first male secretary at American University and one of the fringe benefits was you could take a couple of classes at night. So I took a couple of classes uh in the graduate school and eventually got my master’s degree in political science. So those were those seeds were set as far as I mean to me having lived

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in that kind of a thing you thought I can make this better. I want to be able to shape policy or was it just um I mean I’m just curious because I when I got involved it’s because I saw things going on and I thought there needs to be some radical shifts in policy and I chose to be in a third party only because I at that time thought that as a new third party pe people would be looking and maybe say oh that’s very much like us. We can vote for that. But in fact, I became identified as a radical. That

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affected my next years here. They always said Jason the Green Party. And then people would think we’re radical. We’re only radical just like the health things doing going with Robert Kennedy now. They’re only radical if you try to take facts and pull them from the air like Trump. Sorry. I can’t help but using him as an example of everything bad. I’m um a bit lopsided and don’t know how to cut off my uh upset there. >> Right. Well, there’s the 12step meditation about uh give me the

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>> uh wisdom to >> know what I can do. know what I could know with the power to change the things I can and the insight to know the difference between what I can change and what I can’t change. You know, I’m paraphrasing that. Um, I did I was I just talked about being in DC. However, I guess my political career began when I was in college and my I went to college when I was 17 and my first uh term uh there I actually stood for the student government and won in my first race. So,

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actually at 18 years old I was in the student government of uh at Bradley University. Couple of years later, I was appointed to the student supreme court. Excuse me. And so those were I guess the seeds. I had planned on going to law school. didn’t uh go after college and then when I was in graduate school just before I finished my master’s degree and took my comp, I got admitted to a new law school in Washington DC. However, here’s the irony of ironies. They say when you get to a fork in the

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road, take it. My comprehensive exam was on say April 2nd on a Saturday. My law school began on March 28th. So, I didn’t want to be in law school for a week and also be studying for my comp and I didn’t want to take the comp early. So, I decided to postpone law school and go the second term and I took my comp, passed, got my master’s degree and at that point decided I needed a break. So, I ended up traveling around the world, hitchhike around the world, 50 plus countries. >> Wow. Just the other day, I looked at a

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map of Yugoslavia uh and it looks like four of the countries uh Croatia and Serbia uh and uh I I went, you know, the countries that were then part of Yugoslavia. And so I think it was four different countries, Slovenia that I actually went through on my way to Bulgaria and onto uh Turkey. Um so anyway, and then during my travels, I went to India. I found a spiritual teacher. I ended up living in a community for four years. And so in all that time, I was not politically active. I would say just traveling. And when I

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got to Maui in the summer of 86, living here, I started learning about the community and of course that this was an independent nation. And when I first came to visit in the late ‘7s, there were still people alive that were living here when this was an independent country. So right away something and you’re not taught that in school, even with my master’s degree, to realize the history and that’s I guess part of the challenge we have in the nation that everybody has, including me. I don’t

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know everything obviously, so we all know what we know. And so I just started getting more interested in the local community. And as you and that’s where we met in the spring of 92, the Green Party of Hawaii was just getting organized and it was forming in the country maybe in the late 80s. So you and I were two of the first four candidates for the Green Party for Hawaii on Maui. And I stuck with it. I got really excited. It’s based on four pillars of uh grassroots democracy, nonviolence,

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social justice, and so people think of us just as an environmental party, but we’re actually just as involved in social justice issues and nonviolence. And so you think that like in what you said, I thought it was a good phrase, people think of it as radical. Well, our current administration looks at any moderate Democrat as radical, and they call them uh a domestic terrorist. And this woman that was assassinated by uh the ICE officers in Minnesota, the first thing we got was the vice president, the

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secretary of homeland security, and the president already condemning it and lying. And we talked earlier about videos, but they had all these people with cameras that took pictures showing that the vehicle, the the officer, if he did anything, he he stood in front of the vehicle, which is of course uh idiotic. And uh I don’t want to go more into that uh situation, but it’s definitely got people riled up. And so u you know earlier I said every day there’s something new whether it’s uh

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attacking Venezuela now hearing that no matter what we’re going to uh take over Greenland and we’ve just got challenges and like bring it back home to Maui. We have a growing homeless and houseless population unsheltered people a lack of affordable housing. uh we had the disaster in Lahina and Kula uh two and a half years ago. So there is again so many issues that people are confronted with of trying to afford to live here. We have more billionaires moving to the island. We see our country has moved

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from an uh oligarchy run by wealthy people to a putoaucracy which is now really controlling all facets of the government. And that’s the sort of the negative way of looking at things. And it just again this 12step meditation. Look at the things that we can change and uh have the power to change them and accept the things we can’t. And just to final finish this thought, that’s why people stand for office. They want to be a representative to then propose and help the community. And that’s what we

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have. We don’t have a pure democracy. We have a we have a u a representative democracy or a representative republic where we pick someone who will represent us in a meeting to make the decisions. In this case, our local government is the county council with a mayor. So, yeah, we definitely have some uh big things in changing. Um I do want to go back one other thing that you said because your introduction had about seven or eight different things. I wasn’t a candidate every year. I chose

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to run because I learned that look at what’s going on on this island. We have the county council makes the decisions in the mayor. And so the elected officials, you can have thousands of people show up to testify and they do what they want. And so I saw that having studied political science that the structure of government we have that it was important to have a say in the decisions. And over the years, I served on a couple of county boards and nonprofit boards and commissions. And so, again, I learned the value of that,

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you know, being involved, >> getting a seat that votes. Is that right? Yeah, cuz like I thought that by being a media guy like I’ve been for God knows years now that that would put ideas into the ears of people that would be the voice and I’ve been um under represented that way and I didn’t run only because I don’t have resources. you have been really a champion at doing it and putting it out even though you didn’t have the kind of resources that many think it takes to get that message

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so broadly heard cuz what you just said I don’t think anyone in their I don’t I don’t think anyone I’ve ever met would want to be against what you just were talking about you know I don’t really >> well sadly there are people like I said you see people I was at the rally the other day uh uh related to our federal government and you had people driving by and say I like him and I say what can you like about him? He’s a socio-csychopathic liar. He said well no they just drive by in their trucks

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yelling out I like him. And so what do they like? Uh they like that uh he’s able to uh he was a great businessman and yet he went bankrupt how many times? And you talk to people and they say, “Oh, no, no, he’s a great.” So, in other words, like everybody has their own information. Uh there was uh obviously we had a challenge with the border and so is the result uh what you do now is that you stop people on the street because they’re a person of color or they look a certain way and you ask for

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papers in this country where we don’t have to carry our passport and ID. And yet people in around the country where whether it’s in Portland or in Chicago in Washington DC or now in Minneapolis, people are being stopped on the street and the people that are covering it again. And I want to go back to when you talked about media are seeing that they’re stopping not white people but people of color and uh people that look Latino or they’re they’re racially profiling. >> Nicole Good. She was dealing with her

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kid at school. She was white, wasn’t she? >> Renee. Renee. >> Renee. >> Who’s Nicole? >> I don’t know. Maybe that was her middle name. Maybe it’s Renee. Nicole. I know Renee. Good. It might be Renee and Nicole. >> Anyway, all I know is that when I hear these stories, I I just can’t imagine. >> Not every single person, even those that are in the Trump camp, wouldn’t be horrified by that. >> Well, they’re spinning it. You see, that’s the difficulty cuz most people

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are trying to feed their kids. They go to work. They have two or three jobs to pay their bills. Not everyone has the time to follow everything that’s going on. And then it depends on uh the media. And that’s a good segue back to uh what you talked about, the impact that the media has. So now you have what’s called influencers and Tik Tok and people watch uh these videos and these people that are the phrase is influencers to have people oh believe what they say you know and it’s hard more and more now because

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we live in these little boxes. So, if you only watch uh MS Now or you only watch Fox or you only watch Newsmax, you’re going to get a certain perspective on the world. And the what’s nice about some of the comedy shows is that they show the absurdity of what some people are saying and yet a lot of people and I have to look in the mirror sometimes. Oh, do I trust what I just read? you know, and uh again, that’s um look at I’ve been a Green for 30 some odd years. I’ve been a state officer.

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I’ve been a county officer. Uh like we did talk about, I’ve been a candidate both for county and state offices. And so the perspective that you get and the information you get is limited only to the time that you have to involve yourself. And not everybody has the time. So when you say people will just get a sound bite and even us talking here, look at what is being said. Yes. So it’s good that we don’t have rapists and murderers and drug dealers coming across the border. And what’s the

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percentage of those? A whole bunch of people are coming who are coming across the border are women who watch their husbands get murdered, their ch children get raped in front of their eyes and they need to escape from where they are. So this country, the the placard that’s on the bottom of the Statue of Liberty talks about being people. This was a place where people could come. Everyone in this country unless you’re uh were brought from Africa as a slave or you’re a native person came as an immigrant.

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All of my grandparents came here. I have no relatives living in Europe. They all came from there. I’m a third generation. I learned from a cousin who’s a uh genealogy ex expert involved with that that the first people that arrive here that’s the first generation. So you hear a lot of people say oh yeah my parents immigrated here and I’m first generation. No they’re actually second generation. So I’m third generation. All three of my grand four of my grandparents came from here. If they

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didn’t come here they would be dead or they could have gone to some other country. So you have people around the world. Australia takes people in, Canada takes people in, Brazil takes people in. You know, different countries are places where people to escape the horrors of where they are. And with the discussion now of course in this country we hear hardly anything about Sudan where people are getting thousands are being raped and murdered in Myanmar where they’re having elections now and the the

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democratic elected head of Myanmar which used to be Burma is now in jail. So things could get much worse here. People don’t like oh this isn’t a fascist government. No, but we have a a person in the White House now who, like he said, he’s only limited by his morality. Well, what if his morality is in the gutter? So, then we’re limited by his gutter mentality. That’s why you have the rule of law. We learned this the system that we have in the United States. And it didn’t always work. We

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all know that. How many people were assassinated or lynched or shot and killed in the South especially? And the people that committed those crimes were found innocent in uh court and that people of color were not allowed to serve on juries. And when I was a kid, my mother, for example, women uh they couldn’t buy a house on their own. They couldn’t get credit on their own. So, a lot of young people today, and I don’t know how many young people are listening to this show, they don’t realize the

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history of what people have gone through to get to where we are today. And so, yeah, there’s again, I’m I’m rattling off. I’m going off on like a stream of consciousness because it’s sort of all intertwined. What people went through >> to be able to get to now where we have more of a semblance of equality and people that we now just accept in our society. If you look at pictures from not that long ago, 60s,7s, 80s, you see it’s all white men serving in Congress, white men serving in the judiciary.

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So things have changed because we have a multicultural country. Yet the push back now feels like all the progress we were making on social inter everything is now rolling backwards like Jack and Jill rolling down the hill. And um that concerns me. So I hope that everyone that’s listening and watching realizes now is the time to get involved. Now is the time to wake up. Excuse me. You know, by the way. >> No, don’t excuse yourself. You were totally right. >> Well, >> and now

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>> now is the now. >> Now. >> No. No. Now. Now. >> Well, I was going to bring up something that may be controversial to you. A little >> controversial. What? >> Yeah. I >> controversial >> after the event out there on the street saying we don’t want ICE here. We don’t want ice anywhere. the red. After I got out of there, I drove up to the EA theater and it was I want to say standing room only. It was full. There’s an in a multi- island tour

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with a number of uh speakers. >> Jimmy Door is one of them, right? >> Well, you know, I never just shows you I’m in a box. I didn’t know who Jimmy Door was until they say, “Oh, Jimmy Door is here.” Who’s that? Yeah, it was that I sat next to Dr.Nat. So I remember right he was in front of me. So we were watching. So he told me, “Oh yeah, he’s a comedian from Aahu. He has a thing.” So when he spoke, the guy was >> is Jimmy Dorf from See, I didn’t even

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know that. From Aahu. >> Well, again, >> I didn’t realize that. >> I don’t know who is where. All I know is he spoke and >> and hi Dr. Nat if you’re listening to this. He played at my last two big birthday parties years ago. You have big birthday parties. >> I used to. Yeah, I used to. I haven’t when I first got my property out in Koa. >> Well, that’s because they took New Year’s Eve and they turned it into to Christmas Eve instead. You know, I used

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to remember your parties. I loved your parties, but then it got to be so many things against it. And it sort of was like I don’t know how >> well the main thing against it was that it the last one I had it poured rain and instead of having a couple hundred people out there on the land out in Huo the 20 people showed up in the mud and Dr.Nat was the band and so we kept on the power we kept on shorting out and I finally said you know that’s enough. So yeah my birthday’s uh I just had my

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birthday the other day. So >> is it raining out in Wo these days? No, no, no. It does. It did for a couple of days, but it’s mostly >> historically getting less water. >> No, it’s still Yeah. Yeah. It’s uh as for the time I’ve been out there now uh 29 years, it’s uh it’s um as dry as I’ve seen it. So, yeah, >> that’s interesting. And also, >> but it’s an islandwide thing, I believe. Well, I when I drive through Malaya and going toward Kihei and I remember when I

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first got here in ‘ 88 and I bought a car and I drove out on these flats and then I couldn’t get out and then I someone said, “Oh yeah, this is the old wetlands.” And then it was wet for a zillion years. It’s now dry again. This is the driest I’ve ever seen it in 31 years, something like that. So your 29-year story, in fact, I remember when you bought that place, >> right? You helped me get it. So is it I think it’s 28 years. I think I just lied. >> And Naomi, she rest in peace. And

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Walter. >> Thank you, Naomi. And Walter. Thank you guys. >> There’s Maui has so many beautiful people and has had it’s been a really very wonderful and rich experience. It’s been half my life. I know you’re older than me and you’re probably here longer. >> Oh, I’m much older than you. You’re a kid compared to me. >> What is it now? Four months. >> Months, right? Four months. >> Oh, >> your birthday comes up. They wish Jason happy birthday in April. April 11th, I

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believe. >> Yeah. Well, you know, it happens. It has to happen, >> right? >> I am 75 years old coming up. I don’t really know what that when I think of my parents and my grandparents at 75. I just first of all my father didn’t make it past 50. He died at 50. >> And so I was like, wait, I’m living past my father. Now I’m again half again as much. And then my mother lived to 82 and that’s coming up. But I have an 82. I shouldn’t say that. The old girlfriend.

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Holy mackerel. What’s that? It’s a very interesting experience living. >> She robbed the cradle. That’s right. Very much rob the cradle. Right. >> Well, we’ve been together and together we’re sort of like Mick and Bianca Jagger. Whereas we live in different places, has set up different lives and come together at by choice. It’s really been ideal. Everyone says, >> “Oh, you you and I do that too. We live in different places.” >> You know, I’ve many people say, “You

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should take my wife, put her in another house. That would be awesome.” Anyway, it’s been an interesting thing being on Maui all these years. These shows that you watch up there on Maui Neutral Zone, they’re also on YouTube. Yeah, we still have a little bit of time. So, when I start >> Oh, no. I was just looking at the screen cuz I It’s a little camera. So, yeah, I don’t see a monitor. So, that’s why I was just curious. >> You theater that I was going to say that’s controversial,

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>> right? Well, I uh I never was really knowledgeable about vaccines, but when the co thing was first coming on the scene, just so happens the one guy was working with the developing machine to create uh HH anyway, that’s a story about water and dealing with the Chinese. And so, as this was all I was kind of looking around and searching and I heard the word COVID and SARS, too. So I looked it up in patents and wouldn’t you know on the SARS 2 patent there are all kinds of names and one of

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those names first of all why is there a patent on a vaccine then I realized oh if it’s not natural then they have to have a patent on it that means all vaccines have to have patents well here’s this name on that one it’s among other names Dr. Anthony Fouchy. Well, isn’t he the guy? So, um, there have been a lot of things that have just like everybody that gets investigated. Some are real, some aren’t. I like your little puppy, Nick. He’s so quiet. >> This is radar.

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>> He’s radar. Say hi. >> The other day at the rally, he was there and an ambulance went by and he starts howling. >> Oh, did he? >> And so then I egg him on. I go, “Oh, oh, oh, oh.” See? And so then he uh starts howling and people got a good kick out of that. So anyway, you were back to uh >> I was just saying, you know, uh I believe there’s an area that if people understood, they wouldn’t be quite as anti- anti. I think everyone needs to really look at that subject a lot more

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closely or at least not condemn what they’re doing. for example, they would like the governor not to enforce or not to pass a law that that makes people have to take all these vaccinations. There’s an extreme number of vaccinations. Hey, radar. And um and uh that’s really an issue to be not talked about here, but that’s going to be a future subject. I don’t like to get things where it’s a heed he said she said thing but I would like a choice as an individual and I don’t know if the

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number of things they’re choosing to want to make mandatory again this was >> well that there was discussion when I was in college about paying your taxes no but the reason you know and then why should our taxes go to >> this week on a national basis we see that they’re saying less and less vaccine to be mandatory but Hawaii is trying to push it in as mandatory. I thought this this timing we have a lot of more viewing of this stuff. So what a calm nice guy. Does he have any opinions?

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>> Oh, he has a lot of opinions. See, he’s whispering it to me. So yeah, it depends on people’s information. So you talk about vaccine, I’m not a doctor. So you choose whether you’re going to believe your doctor or not. So one person says vitamin C works, someone says don’t. Someone says no, now you can eat as much fat as you want to eat. So yeah, >> living longer than my parents. The information is getting bigger. We Some people say, “Wait, GMO. GMO. If you did

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want diabetes, they wouldn’t even have a diabetes drug.” So all these things is everyone wanting to be right and wrong. I just would like to be have the freedom. And so that is an issue that I think is worthy. Radar, you really are in the middle of it all. Thanks for coming on the show. Oh yeah, >> he’s such a nice boy. >> Yeah, he is. >> We only have a few minutes left. We got a lot of minutes, but any subjects that really feel important that you when you have the forum here that you’d like to

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express or like? >> We touched on uh nothing jumps out at me right now. We’ve touched on a few things. Uh not only political, you mentioned diet. Uh houseless is a huge issue on Maui. Why don’t we have enough houses being built? Why have over the years we buy we build high-end homes like what just got passed a few months ago by the current council to allow building a thousand homes just um is it south of right next to Maui Meadows and they remove the number of affordable units that are going to be in workforce

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housing and why can’t we have affordable housing on the beach and why and McKenna why only high-end gated communities so again People have talked about so you judge a society by how you treat the most vulnerable in your community and again you have a lot of people talking again the unsheltered community is is big on this island but it’s true all over. So the affordability of housing all around the the country. So we’re not the only ones. It’s in big cities. It’s even in small towns now where there’s

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just not enough housing. And I don’t have all the figures as to why. Is it land is more uh val is uh more expensive? Is it that the materials are more expensive? Is it zoning laws? You see how now you can build an accessory dwelling on property in certain areas where you couldn’t in the past. So a lot of the rules are and zoning and permitting are for health and safety. And so you have a certain political position that oh I want to get rid of all kind of uh permitting and all kinds of oversight. And that allows you can

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see around the world some of the people have talked about the fires that happened on Maui were a result of also uh not being on top of uh water usage and the utility. And I’m just throwing things out because again, you could spend the entire time talking about each each issue and the things that I’m not an expert on. I have an opinion. As we say, everybody has uh an an opinion and I could use I don’t know how much they bleep on this radio show. >> Just like, right, everybody has so then

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it can get bleeped or not. And so just like I was impressed with the mayor uh of Minneapolis, you know, saying out of this town that will be bleeped and I >> that one will be bleeped. >> Got it. And I saw >> Don’t do that again. >> Right. So I saw like you just said >> get the hook. >> Right. Got it. So um so yeah. Well on CNN they allowed that. >> I’m not CN. >> No, no. I’m just saying that in other words, what are the words? Right. So

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what are the words that are well I remember when I had my TV show I wasn’t bleeped at all. So now again use that as an example. Why is that word but if you say uh some analogy to it or synonym to it or whatever why is that allowed you know? So, um, yeah. Uh, that’s what I’m saying when you So, yeah, I watch, uh, I’m just I’m just saying that. So, there’s certain words that are bleeped and then George Carlin had that great skit about the seven words that you can’t say, right?

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>> Who decides what word is okay and what word is not? Look at the language that we use now for different people. >> Radio’s FCC regulations. Do we fall under that guideline? >> Right. Oh, no. No. So, that’s fine. So, you know, so then you can bleep that out. He’s not bleeping it. I am >> TV as well. >> When I had on Akaku, they never bleeped me. So, well, so now I know. Got it. >> But then you know what they say, uh, without knowledge is not permission.

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>> I never heard that phrase. >> I made it up, but it makes sense. Just because you don’t know the law. >> Oh, no. No. Well, ignorance of the law is no excuse. I realize that. All right. So you said it in in biblical terms. I said it differently, but it’s the same message. It but the most important part of all this is the freedom and why and who makes >> So now aaku is now um is now uh uh >> no got FCC. So for the radio >> radio is a different that’s why I talked

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about equal time on TV. You don’t have that same same deal. Maybe you do and I don’t know it, but I just know that on radio they’re much more careful with what you say over the air. >> Yeah. No, that’s fine. That’s, you know, I don’t have to use that word. I’m just saying I just I quoted >> Are you okay? It’s cold in here. That’s the reason I wore this over shirt. >> Does he look cold? He’s just >> No, no, no. He just does that sometimes.

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But, uh, >> he’s you okay, young man? >> Yeah. No, he’s he’s fine. >> All right. >> So, okay. So, uh, Right. Talk about something else then. Well, I of course the most important thing we said is that people have choices and they have to express them. And with all that’s going on in all these subjects, nobody can do anything to make it better if they don’t have their opinions heard. And um I think it was really important. It was great to see so many people out there. I

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was sad to not see as many young people as I would have liked to have seen but >> well I wonder about that and I don’t have any answer to that as to why more and more young people and I guess I guess you know I think back when people say about elections and that young people well the young people are the ones that you know 18 to 29 are the smallest demographic of >> they don’t know any better is that possible could our side >> or they’re involved with other things in

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their lives you know maybe trying to survive or they’re busy watching Tik Tok. I I don’t have uh I don’t have an answer. These are times when all of our audience should start sharing the word, start sharing this show, start sharing and start sharing and start feeling more awake because I think these are times when our the very quality of our future and for the future generations um are really dependent on what we do. Now, I’m very, very much believing these are one of those really important times

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in history that we should be glad we’re here because we can be and make a difference at least by not not expressing. I want to really thank you for your commitment all these years, Nick. I mean, to be out there, you know, and people say, “Oh, is he running again?” They should be running. They should be >> No, you know what? I was looking just recently a couple of people on the county council uh someone has now announced that they’re going to run for mayor and this is their fifth term and

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they’re now term limited so you can only serve five two-year terms and so people but the people on the council three of them I believe lost their first time they ran and then the second time they ran they won. People have run two or three times then won. So not everybody wins on their first goaround. people will lose for one race and then they’ll run for someone. For example, our state s our US senator uh ran for governor and lost running for governor and then ran for US senate one. So, uh people have

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you know people there’s a whole other subject we could talk about about term limits. So people will So I did not run every year and I chose uh when what years uh to run and for example just as a little thing really quickly as far as a third party and the Green Party and we didn’t talk very much about the Green Party today. So uh yeah so that I I sent a message because we’ve had to petition third parties are required to meet certain criteria that the the two major parties do not. And so I just proposed

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something to my state representative who’s going to propose that about not requiring that the the Green Party and third parties are required to meet certain criteria that other political parties aren’t. So the Green Party of course offers people an alternative and a choice in partisan races. >> Perfect. Nilandanda, you’ve been a terrific guest. I know we can speak more. I hope you’ll decide to come back another time and be here with me on this. And you too, Radar. You’re going

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to sleep on me, huh? We are out of here. Thank you all for joining us. We’ll see you next week. >> Thank you, Jason. >> Wow. Some with this board. We’re not hearing it, but we are knowing. We’ll see you next week. Blessings. Aloha. >> Aloha.