January 12, 2009
Raphael O'Suna
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Late last summer five of us took our annual camping trip.
The election or its outcome was not yet clear, but the mess, fear and panic throughout our economy and system were fully in evidence.
Around the evening fire, we played a game. Each of us agreed to characterize the year ahead, 2009, in a word or phrase.
Dark George, as we sometimes called him, after some thought, suggested that, in 2009, we would wander in the “Labyrinth of the Penumbra.” Dark, confusing times lay ahead, in the mind of George, with the outcome in doubt.
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January 12, 2009
> MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays
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 Wild Man Day
Day 12 of 2008
353 days left in this year
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HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Inaina: Anger
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY — Buss up: Broken, damaged
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “The fire blazed up, then only ashes were left.”
HAOLE SAYINGS OF THE DAY — “We are what our thoughts have made us.” - Vivekananda
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK — Aldo Leopold Foundation
JANUARY 12th: This date holds some very memories for Maui, and Hawaii.
On January 12, 1900, the rookie illegal government just formed for Hawaii in 1896 came up with a novel solution to a terrible problem. Bubonic plague had broken out in Honolulu, and it seemed concentrated around Chinatown. The government decided to burn Chinatown down. Riots erupted when Chinese merchants protested the planned fires. While a haphazard collection of men formed a fire brigade, government officials (there were no “departments” as yet) set fires in key places, and armed security forces battled the merchants.Thinking that Oahu had gone nuts, people here on Maui decided that for the next week, no boat would be allowed to land from the Oahu. Many feared that plague carriers would arrive, and the same disasters would befall Maui. This didn’t sit well with Maui merchants, who relied on boat deliveries to stock their shelves. So fights broke out at Kahului Harbor and in Wailuku.
On January 12, 1960, Mt. Kilauea Volcano erupts with what is reported to be a “two-mile-long curtain of fire on Puna.” Homes, businesses, and people are damaged, but amazingly no one is reported killed. On Maui, the “vog” covers Kihei to Wailuku in a brown haze and is reported to extend a mile high .
On January 12, 2007. Just 2 years ago on this date, a detailed study reported that although the living expenses in Hawaii were among the highest in the country, the average Hawaiian wage was slightly below the national average.
Today, January 12, 2008. And finally, continuing eruptiuons from Mt. Kilauea Volcano for over 25 years have endangered Puna again, and homes have again been evacuated in this area of the Big Island.
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