Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day Day 27 of 2012 338 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Kokoleka: Chocolate
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Pono: Goodness, uprightness
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “One meets misfortune, all meet misfortune.”
HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – Lewis Carroll

TODAY: An outrageous violation of privacy, a Hawaii bill requiring Internet providers to keep track of every Web site their customers visit,  has been scrapped for now. A Hawaii House Committee yesterday voted to defer a bill that sought internet tracking of all consumer records, including website browsing for at least 2 years, after hearing overwhelming testimony and a national outcry against it after the story went viral on the Internet. Read MauiNow.com Story >  Read the CNET story detailing this insidious bill. >

HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 27

• 1916: Marguerite Kamehaokalani Ashford is the second woman ever admitted to the practice of law in Hawaii.
• 1920: Pacific Commercial Advertiser reports that Kamehameha Highway is the name selected by the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors for the O’ahu belt road.
• 1936: Father Damien’s remains are disinterred from his grave at Kalawao and taken to Honolulu. They will eventually be taken to Belgium.
• 1942: The office of the military governor warns Hawaii merchants against profiteering in food items. A list of maximum prices is released for potatoes onions, rice, bananas, fish and cheese.
• 1954: Japan Airlines inaugurates service between Tokyo and Honolulu
• 1960: Lava from the Kilauea eruption crosses the main road in Kapoho and destroys the post office, Hara’s Store and 12 other buildings in the village.

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Nat’l Seed Swap Day Day 26 of 2012 339 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Lolo uila: Computer
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Komputa: Computer
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “They come together in the gray smoke.”
HAOLE SAYIG OF THE DAY — “You only grow when you are alone.”- Paul Newman

JANUARY: Volcano Awareness Month on the Big Island of Hawaii. More >

TODAY:  Three Options Considered for Closing Kahului Airport Runway. Of the three options for repairing the main runway at Kahului Airport, the most expensive was overwhelmingly preferred at a standing-room-only public meeting Monday, because it would not require a temporary shutdown of Mainland flights. More >

HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 26th

• 1932: Four people are indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Joseph Kahahawai. The mother and husband of Thalia Massie are among those charged.
• 1951: A 35-day strike by Honolulu Rapid Transit Co. workers ends. Buses resume service in Honolulu.
• 1960: Kapoho is bombarded by ash and pumice as the Kilauea eruption that began Jan. 13 continues.
• 1978: State Health officials try to close down the Hale Mohalu Hansen’s Disease facility in Pearl City but only eight of the 20 patients agree to be moved.
• 1998: Mahalo Air is ordered into liquidation by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge, leaving Hawai’i with two interisland airlines again.
• 2005: Twenty-six Marines and a sailor from Kane’ohe Bay are killed in the crash of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in western Iraq.

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Opposite Day Day 25 of 2012 340 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Ku‘e: Contrary
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Arasait: Opposite
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Seek life outside.”
HAOLE WORD OF THE DAY — “Dare to be honest and fear no labor.” – Robert Burns

TODAY:  Two Maui law makers are introducing separate gaming measures in the state legislature this session. Rep. Mele Carroll of Maui introduced a gaming bill yesterday seeking authorization of the Hawaiian Homes Commission to allow gaming on Hawaiian home lands. More >

HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 25

1919: By emergency proclamation of the territorial government of Hawaii, all public enclosed places, including theaters, schools and even churches, are closed due to the flu epidemic sweeping the world. Known as the “Spanish Flu,” the virus that swept the globe eventually killed between 20 and 40 million people. That’s more people than died in all of World War I. It’s more people than died in the great bubonic plague outbreak in the late 1300s. And much like the bubonic plague which spawned the nursery rhyme, “Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down,” the flu pandemic spawned many children’s songs, including a jump rope ditty like this: “I had a little bird, it’s name was Enza, I opened the window, and in-flu-enza.”

There are no records indicating how many people in Hawaii, or on Maui, died from this disease. Coming as it did at the end of World War I, the flu racked the country, already tired and devastated from the European fighting. So widespread and infectious was it that the life expectancy of an American dropped by 10 years during this period. Most victims either drown in their own mucus and blood or suffocated from infected lungs that were unable to process oxygen.

It is speculated that the flu began in China as a variation on a common strain, and rapidly made its way overland to the theater of war in Europe, where tired populations and soldiers were very susceptible. The first known American case of the flu was in Boston in late 1918, where troop ships flooded the harbor after the war.

• 1922: Kalihi-Kai School on Oahu is destroyed in a fire.
• 1999: Herman Wedemeyer, an All-American football player who retook the national stage three decades later as a regular on “Hawaii Five-0,” dies at the age of 74.
• 2002: At least 12 Honolulu police officers are suspended or demoted for their part in the investigation of the late-night collision between retired police officer Clyde Arakawa and a 19-year-old woman killed in the crash in October 2000.

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Just Do It Day Day 24 of 2012 31 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Nulu: Noodle
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Ol nudal: Noodles
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “When the nose shines, the chin gets a blow.”
HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “I owe it all to little chocolate donuts.” – John Belushi

TODAY: Governor Neil Abercrombie delivered his second State of the State Address yesterday. Abercrombie emphasized developing a vision for infrastructure, technology, early childhood education and alternative energy.  More >

HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 24

• 1889: Robert Louis Stevenson arrives aboard the yacht Casco after a 29-day voyage from Tahiti.
• 1895: Former Queen Lili’uokalani signs an abdication document.
• 1942: A special court of inquiry into America’s lack of preparedness for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor placed much of the blame on Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short.
• 1973: The Del Monte Corporation announces that it will stop pineapple production on the island of Molokai, putting more than 75 people out of work, after the company struggled for decades to acquire land for pineapple development, all the while when several agricultural experts warned that the island was not well suited for the crop. The announcement followed Castle & Cooke’s similar announcement that it would phase out pineapple production on Molokai in favor of trying to increase tourism and tourism related facilities.
• 2005: Mother Marianne’s exhumation begins. The skull of a Catholic nun who helped care for leprosy patients on Molokai was exhumed Monday as part of the process of being proclaimed a saint. Read more …
• 2010: A massive wind farm proposed for Lanai by Castle & Cooke has been hailed as a major source of green power, now that pineapple is no longer farmed there, but it remains a controversial project on the Pineapple Isle. More >

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Chinese New Year Day 23 of 2012 342 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Hana kuli: Noise, sound
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Nois: Noise
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “They are the fish of loud shouting.”
HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “God’s only excuse is that he does not exist.” – Stendahl

TODAY: Chinese New Year of the Dragon – 4710. In Chinese astrology a dragon person is special. Born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon they usually stand out as powerful and wise, as people who get things done and are successful. Because of this belief, Dragon years create a baby boom in Asian countries. Karen Tse Karen Tse, a human rights lawyer, Unitarian Universalist minister and former San Francisco public defender who founded International Bridges to Justice is calling for an end to torture in this Year of the Dragon.  More >

YESTERDAY: An Earthquake struck the south flank of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at 4:36 p.m. yesterday at a depth of five miles, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 25 miles south of Hilo.. More >

HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 23rd

• 1859: Mauna Loa erupts, with fountaining reported as high as 500 feet.
• 1933: Island composer Sonny Cunha dies at age 54.
• 1936: Public Utilities Commission gives Honolulu Rapid Transit Co. permission to extend bus service to ‘Alewa Heights, Kalihi and Kalihi-Kai.
• 1960: Lava flow destroys the tiny settlement of Koa’e on the Big Island. Homes are also destroyed in Kapoho.
• 1978: Workers in the Construction and General Laborers Union, the state’s second-largest construction union, with 3,000 members, strike.
• 2007: The U.S. Navy is granted exemption to use Sonar in protected Hawaiian waters. Maui marine conservationists are critical of a decision to grant the Navy a two-year exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Read more …
  Many marine biologists believe this technology disorients and interferes with marine mammal communications, which can result in mass beach strandings of whales and dolphins. Learn more at the Natural Resources Defense Council...

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Celebration of Life Day Day 22 of 2012 343 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Paulauni: Brownie
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Braun: Brown
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “An eel of the sandbank is dangerous.”
HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “The time has come for professional jurors.” – Joseph Wambaugh

TODAY: A group of about 40 protesters returned to Kaunakakai Harbor on Molokai on Saturday, January 21, 2012, as the Safari Explorer vessel resumed port calls to the island. More >

HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 22nd

• 1906: A strike by workers at Oahu Sugar Co.’s Waipahu plantation ends.
• 1936: A four-day shipping strike that tied up Matson ships in Honolulu ends.
• 1940: Sears, Roebuck and Co. announces it will build a store between Beretania and Young streets.
• 1948: Walter Frear, former governor of Hawaii and first chief justice of the territorial Supreme Court, dies at age 84.
• 1968: Duke Kahanamoku dies at the age of 77.

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by Raphael O’Suna

Once a year, the monk climbed over the wall of the monastery, and into the arms of a woman. He enjoyed himself immensely.

Afterward, he would be unable to meditate for several days, because his breathing had been disturbed. He also noticed that he could not write as usual about sutras, scriptures and philosophical things.

Every time he tried, his sentences would break into rhyme. Great rhymes. Unexpected and delightful rhymes. But rhymes nonetheless. Entirely inappropriate for his work.

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National Hugging Day Day 21 of 2012 344 days left in this year

HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Kuewa: Homeless
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Pekato: Sin
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “The gecko sings inside the home, blessing it.”
HAOLE WORD OF THE DAY — “I think everyone knows that homelessness is a sin — a civic sin — that we have to come to grips with.” - Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie

TODAY: Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that corporations are people and money is free speech in the Citizens United case, Stephen Colbert is making a mockery of these black-robed, pompous asses and the U.S. electoral process.  ”After the Supreme Court voided many of the country’s bedrock campaign finance laws, much of the American public is still confused by the change — and stupefied by the often-impenetrable jargon that frequently encumbers any discussion of the topic. But one public figure has managed to pierce the veil of dullness to actually demonstrate — in an electrifying way — just how dangerous and corrupt the current system of political campaign financing has become.” South Carolina’s Republican primary election provides Exhibit #1. More >

YESTERDAY: On January 20, 1881, King Kalakaua named Princess Liliuokalani as the Hawaiian Regent in his absence, as he boarded a boat to travel the world. No one knew, of course, that he would never return, as he died in San Francisco exactly 10 years later, January 20, 1891. No one in Hawaii knew the King had died until his body arrived by boat on January 28. One wonders if the illegal overthrown of the monarchy just two years later would have succeeded if the King was still around.

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