Time for Majority to Rule
February 2, 2010 7:27 am > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays |
 Groundhog DayDay 33 of 2010 332 days left in this year |
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Ku’e kumukanawai: Unconstituional PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Jas: Judge HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “In the first golden light of dawn, nothing is impossible!“ HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” - James JoyceTODAY: Dems – Get Some Stones! Remember during the Bush years when the Republican majority threatened “the Nuclear Option” to end the filibuster because of the outrageous number of times Dems threatened to use it for judicial nominations? Well, the Dems caved at the threat then. Now the Republican minority threatens to filibuster almost all legislation. Although Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid opposes the idea of jettisoning this arbitrary and asinine tradition, the idea of killing the filibuster and allowing majority rule in the dysfunctional body gains more support all the time. Tom Harkin (D-Ia.) has long opposed the filibuster; he introduced legislation to kill it in 1995. Last week, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) added himself to the list of those opposed. He recently introduced a resolution that would give the Senate the ability to vote on its own rules and regulations every two years, when a new Congress convenes. More >
February 2nd, 1927: Two Maui Japanese language schools were part of a lawsuit against the Territory of Hawaii. The Territory had passed a law making all Japanese language schools just about illegal – children were taxed, and could not attend until they were 14 or older. This was the only foreign-language school covered by the law (Korean and Chinese schools were unaffected).
The law inflicted only the Japanese because according to its proponents, Japanese schools were becoming centers for unAmerican activities. These were the same schools, by the way, which taught more than 80% of the Japanese American volunteers in World War II.
A year ago the U.S. Supreme court declared the law unconstitutional. It was never revamped.
HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — February 2nd
- 1653: New Amsterdam becomes incorporated as a city (later becomes New York City)
- 1843: U.S. & British settlers in Oregon Country choose a governmental committee
- 1848: First shipload of Chinese immigrants arrive in San Francisco
- 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City ending the Mexican War and extending the boundaries of the United States west to the Pacific Ocean.
- 1863: Samuel Clemens is published as “Mark Twain” for the first time
- 1922: James Joyce’s “Ulysses” published in Paris (on his 40th birthday – 1,000 copies)
- 1933: Two days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves Germany’s Parliament
- 1942: The Los Angeles Times urges security measures be taken against Japanese-Americans
- 1959: Buddy Holly makes his last performance
- 1971: Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote to become leader of Uganda
- 1986: The Dalai Lama meets with Pope John Paul II in India
- 2007: A grim report from the world’s leading climate scientists and government officials said that global warming was so severe, it would “continue for centuries” and that humans were to blame.
- 2008: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former supermodel Carla Bruni were married at the presidential Elysee Palace.
- 2009: Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state.
BORN ON THIS DAY — February 2nd
- 1754: Charles de Talleyrand, French statesman
- 1859: Havelock Ellis,physician/sex researcher
- 1861: Solomon R Guggenheim, philanthropist
- 1875: Fritz Kreisler, violinist/composer
- 1882: James Joyce, novelist/poet
- 1895: George S Halas, (Papa Bear), co-founder NFL
- 1905: Ayn Rand, writer
- 1923: James Dickey, author/actor
- 1923: Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Smith, journalist/author
- 1927: Stan Getz, azz tenor saxophonist
- 1937: Tom Smothers, musical comedian
- 1942: Graham Nash, rock musician (Crosby, Stills, Nash)
- 1946: Farrah Fawcett-Majors, actress
- 1949: Jetty Weels, Surinamese/Dutch singer (Mai Tai)
- 1955: Brent Spiner, actor
- 1958: Holly Hunter, actress
- 1971: Ben Mize, rock musician (Counting Crows)
- 1977: Shakira, singer
- 1973: Sergio Gonzalez, rocker (Menudo-Cannonball)
DIED ON THIS DAY — February 2nd
- 1923: Sam Carter black resident of Rosewood FL, lynched by KKK
- 1969: Boris Karloff, English actor1974 Tex Ritter country singer (5 Star Jubilee), dies at 67
- 1970: Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, English mathematician, writer and philosopher,
- 1977″ Erroll Garner jazz pianist (Misty), dies at 53
- 1979: Sid Vicious, English musician (Sex Pistols)
- 1981: David Lynch singer (Platters-My Prayer), dies at 51
- 1990: Alan Hale Jr actor (Skipper Jonas Grumby-Gilligan’s Island), dies of cancer at 71
- 1992: Virginia Field actress (Dream Girl), dies of cancer at 74
- 1994: Caesar Romero actor (Joker-Batman), dies at 86
- 1994: Dixy Lee Ray chairwoman (US Atomic Energy Commission), dies at 79
- 1996: Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, and director
- 2007: Eric von Schmidt, American folk/blues singer-songwriter
