Single Dad Inspired Father’s Day

June 15, 2008 > MAUI TODAY No Comments
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Click for Kahului, Hawaii ForecastSmile Power Day
Day 167 of 2008
199 days left in this year
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Ano: Weirdly quiet
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY — I no got nais: Quiet
 HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “The plain is quiet; not even the hoot of an owl is heard.”
 HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “I was walking down the street wearing glasses when the prescription ran out. ” (Steven Wright)

WEB SURF SPOTS OF THE WEEK — All World Clock
WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — MSNBC - Meet the Press
NETCAST OF THE WEEK — Podango’s Apple Phone Show
 GOOD DEED SITE OF THE WEEK — The Hunger Site

TODAY IS FATHER’S DAY - Sonora Dodd first proposed the idea of a “father’s day” to honor her father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran, who was widowed when his wife died giving birth to their 6th child.  After Sonora became an adult and married, she sought to honor her father for the selflessness he had shown in raising his 6 children as a single parent on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. She held the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910, her father William Smart’s birthday.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law making it permanent in 1972.

EVENTS ON THIS DAY - June 15th
1985: A four-week United Airlines strike ends and today is the first day flights resume to the islands. The estimated loss of business during the four weeks exceeds $100 million, statewide. The low traffic and quiet found throughout Maui during this period has yet to be matched. Perhaps as much as 50% fewer tourists plagued this island. But these days, fuel prices and airline turmoil - the loss of ATA and Aloha Airlines - is beginning to have a similar effect on island tourism.
-763: (BCE) Assyrians record a total solar eclipse event on clay tablet
1215: King John reluctantly sets his seal to the Magna Carta at Runnymede, in England, thereby granting his barons more liberty
1389: Battle of Kossovo: Turks defeat Serbs, Bosnians
1752: Ben Franklin goes kite flying in a thunderstorm and discovers electricity
1775: George Washington is named Commander-In-Chief by the Continental Congress
1836: Arkansas becomes the 25th state
1876: Sara Spencer (R) is the first woman to address a U.S. presidential convention
1934: The Great Smokey Mountains National Park is dedicated
1940: France surrenders to Hitler
1944: U.S. forces begin the invasion of Saipan in the Pacific
1956: John Lennon (15) & Paul McCartney (13) meet for the first time
1977: Spain’s conducts its first free elections since 1936
2003: A jury in Houston convicts accounting firm Arthur Andersen of obstruction of justice.
2005: The autopsy on Terri Schiavo is released, backing the contention of her husband, Michael, that she was in a persistent vegetative state.
2006: A divided Supreme Court made it easier for police to barge into homes and seize evidence without knocking or waiting.
BORN ON THIS DAY - June 15th
1330: Edward, the black prince, prince of Wales
1843: Edvard Grieg, composer
1888: Maria Dermont, Dutch novelist
1922: Morris K Udall, (Rep-D-Az)
1932: Mario Cuomo, (Gov-D-NY)
1941: Harry Nilsson, singer/songwriter
1946: Jim Varney, actor
1954: Jim Belushi, comedian/actor
1963: Helen Hunt, actress
1964: Courtney Cox Arquette, actress
1969: Ice Cube, rapper
1973: Neil Patrick Harris, actor
190: Denzel Whitaker, actor

Karma & Irony Redux

June 15, 2008 Raphael O'Suna No Comments

Five men sat around a camp fire in Mendocino County long ago. Each expressed his fear, anxiety and resentment regarding the laws, principles and forces of the universe. One man railed against the extent of the necessary. Another feared chance. A third was in the grip of compulsions. A fourth felt victimized by karma. I most feared, resented and found incomprehensible the strain of irony in the universe.

Necessity, chance and compulsion did not seem to require supermundane intervention. Physical laws, statistical probabilities and patterns of behavior seemed to explain the workings of these three.

Karma, however, and irony seemed to extend to and from the visible and immaterial realms. These two seemed to require response, continuation and completion, partially shaped by forces far subtler than physical. Karma might require psychic consent, but who consciously consents to irony? Irony seemed almost infernal or impish. Almost a kind of black humor. Why would a benevolent power provide for so much irony? Justice often is unobservable in the torture of irony.

The next morning we realized that our philosophical and metaphysical discussions had so engrossed us, that we had left unprotected our supplies. A bear had not missed the opportunity. Thus began again our discussion of the night before.

– Raphael O’Suna,  Haiku