Power of Negative Thinking
June 2, 2008 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments![]() |
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HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Uila: ElectricityNORML (National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws)
June 2nd, 1901: Plans begin for the first electric plant on Maui, perhaps the last time altruism was involved in considerations of fuel and power on Maui.
Most people think the Kahului plant was Maui’s first, but that didn’t go online until 1924. The first power came from cane and was in Puunene, in 1904, and that plant was quickly followed by the plant near the Paia sugar mill.
We’ve come a long way. The Kahului plant is still working, something of a model of invention. Still, the plant spews such toxins into the valley air that it would not pass any other state’s pollution regulations. Further, there are no plans to take the plant offline in the next two decades.
MECO is still trying to go forward with its Pulehu power plant, a 20-megawatt facility it wants to bring online in 2011. This plant – a disaster of planning and timing – is scheduled to use up 1,000,000 gallons of imported diesel oil per day to run, oil which must be transporteted by trucks from the port to the facility. Five years ago, when the plant was first proposed, oil was $10 a barrel and those running MECO expressed their deep conviction that they would be shocked if oil reached $30 “for the foreseeable future.”
Oil is currently $134 a barrel and climbing. Lawsuits are pending against the Waena power plan. We can only hope they succeed.
EVENTS ON THIS DAY — June 2nd
1835: P T Barnum & his circus begin the first tour of the U.S.
1851: The first U.S. alcohol prohibition law is enacted (Maine)
1873: Ground is broken in San Fransisco on Clay Street for world’s first cable railroad
1883: Chicago’s “El”evated train opens to traffic
1886: Grover Cleveland becomes the first to wed during presidency (Frances Folsom)
1924: Congress grants U.S. citizenship to all American Indians.
1933: The White House swimming pool opens
1936: General Anastasio Somoza takes over as dictator of Nicaragua
1941: Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig died at age 37 of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
1959: Allen Ginsberg writes his poem “Lysergic Acid”
1964: The Rolling Stones. first U.S. concert tour debuts in Lynn Massachusetts
1989: 10,000 Chinese soldiers are blocked by 100,000 citizens protecting students demonstrating for democracy in Tiananmen Square in Beijing
1997: Timothy McVeigh is convicted of murder and conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing (sentenced to death)
1998: Voters in California pass Proposition 227, requiring that all schoolchildren be taught in English.
2007: The FDA warned consumers to avoid using toothpaste made in China
BORN ON THIS DAY — June 2nd
1491: Henry VIII, King of England
1731: Martha Washington, Mother of our Country
1740: Marquis de Sade, first known sadist, writer
1840: Thomas Hardy, English poet/novelist
1857: Edward Elgar, composer
1890: Hedda Hopper, gossip columnist
1936: Sally Kellerman, actress
1944: Marvin Hamlisch, composer/pianist
1948: Jerry Mathers, actor
1955: Dana Carvey, comedian
1955: Garry Grimes, actor
1976: Adrian Carlos Olivares, singer
1982: Jewel Staite, actress

