“A wise man knows he knows nothing”— Socrates.
The greatest and most important problems of [one’s personal] life are all… in a certain sense… insoluble… They [these problems] can never be solved… but only outgrown. This “outgrowing”, as I formerly called it, on further experience, was seen to consist in [the development of] a new level of consciousness. Some higher or wider interest arose on the person’s horizon, and through this widening of view [a greater depth of awareness], the insoluble problem lost its urgency. It was not solved logically in its own terms, but faded out [of the forefront and into nothingness] when confronted with a new and stronger life-tendency [urgency].
— CARL GUSTAV JUNG
WORK IN PROGRESS…
OUTSIDE LOOKING INSIDE
KU PA’A
Have you ever taken a moment to identify Categories or areas of your Life?
As an example:
What is most important to you in life (a core value)?
What is most important to you in a career?
What is most important to you in a relationship?
Can you list out at least five answers for every one of these questions?
And looking at these five answers, which one is more important than the other four, and so forth, until each of the five answers are ordered in the order of importance within each Category.
Through this simple process and a serious quest to understand what is important to you, you will identity what you value most in life, and career, and in a relationships.
Values, and Beliefs, and Needs.
Two phrases I apply almost daily:
People do what they will do to meet their own needs; not the needs of others.
People will violate their Values in order to fulfill their needs.
People will spend more energy avoiding what they fear than pursuing what they desire.
Ku Pa’a is to stand firm in one’s own values and beliefs.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
I respect the land and the surrounding sea and the multitude of descendants of kānaka maoli and embrace the Islands of the Hawaiʻian Kingdom as my home.
SERVICE TO COUNTRY
I proudly served in the United States Military with such service compounding an ever growing set of contradictions resulting in a sense of foreboding disillusionment that has presented me with varying stages of self regulating realignment.
For the most part, my entire military career was in support of the TACAMO mission.
The TACAMO mission provides an airborne capability for survivable, endurable and reliable airborne command, control and communications between the United States (U.S.) National Command Authority (NCA) and the U.S. strategic forces. This mission is critical in the deterrence and management of a nuclear conflict. A dedicated communications platform, TACAMO aircraft feature the ability to communicate on virtually every radio frequency band from very low frequency (VLF) up through advanced extremely high frequency (AEHF) using a variety of modulations, encryptions and networks, minimizing the likelihood an emergency message being jammed by an enemy.
Authorization of a nuclear or strategic attack
Only the president can direct the use of nuclear weapons by U.S. Armed Forces, through plans like OPLAN 8010-12. The president has unilateral authority as commander-in-chief to order that nuclear weapons be used for any reason at any time.
The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States military. The secretary of defense is the principal military advisor to the president. The chain of command for operational purposes goes from the president through the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) are the principal military advisers to the president, secretary of defense, and the National Security Council (NSC). The JCS includes the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and other members.
The National Military Command Center (NMCC) monitors worldwide events that may be of defense significance. The NMCC also has a crisis response component and a strategic watch component.
After accumulating over three thousand five hundred (3,500) hours of flight time aboard the EC-130Q in various aircrew positions from the back of the aircraft to the cockpit while serving in two Squadrons (VQ-3 & VQ-4) of the United States Navy’s Strategic Communications Wing 1, which in itself is part of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), a series of incidents (including a head injury) resulted in becoming medically disqualified to fly.
Prior to my departure, the TACAMO mission had begun the transition to the Boeing E6 (a modified Boeing 707) aircraft and by the end 1992 both squadrons had relocated from their respective stations (Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii and Patuxent River, Maryland) to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
After more than three decades of flight time, the TACAMO mission is once again transitioning aircraft, and this time it is returning to the robust and proven platform of the C130. The transition to the new EC-130J platform should be complete by 2030.
Northrop $3.55bn award to deliver US Navy’s E-130J TACAMO
EDUCATIONAL PURSUITS
Experience is the greatest teacher. Never back away from learning. There is not a day that goes by that I do not ponder a question and seek an answer. It is how I have conditioned myself. Never be afraid to ask questions.
Always remain curious.
Smart entrepreneurs are always asking questions and are never afraid of looking stupid.
People communicate at the level of their frame of reference or perspective. Having the ability to discuss a wide range of topics is a superpower.
I have always been on the Dean’s List at every academic institution I have ever attended… yet I consider myself to be the dumbest guy at the table… it is only with collective thought that answers fully bloom and are able to solve the most pressing of problems.
I subscribe to the waterfall method… answers to questions flow down into a pool where more questions float to the surface and the process is perpetual and iterative. This never ending process develops depth and breadth.
If you think you know it all… you are not the solution… you are the problem.
Being coachable is an incredible asset… always remain humble and teachable.
I am an Alumnus of the University of Hawaii, Chaminade University in Honolulu, and I graduated with honors from Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYUH), a beautiful and culturally rich campus located in the small North Shore town of La’ie, next to the Polynesian Cultural Center, on the island of O’ahu in the State of Hawaiʻi.
Focusing on accounting and computer engineering, I attended Portland State University (PSU), located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and Portland Community College located in Rock Creek, Oregon.
I believe I also attended Kapiolani Community College, although it may have been Leeward Community College in Waipahu. I also graduated from Roosevelt University (RU) located outside of Chicago Illinois, in Computer Systems, during the early days of the computer revolution.
Stanford University in Palo Alto is perhaps my favorite University Campus and was always my goto place for refresher courses for a wide range of topics.
I also did Post Grad work in the health care field at Washington State University (WSU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing on health care law, ethics and capital flows in the health care industry.
Back in the day, my first computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 that booted from a cassette tape. Dial up modems would gain you access to a campus network. The internet was not around nor were there cell phones.
I would soon upgrade to an Apple IIe with an eight bit 6502 CPU.
I now operate a publishing business from an Apple MacBook Pro with the latest M System on a Chip.
MENTOR CAPITALIST
