A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....11-01,02-05....Aloha! Back to Hawaii

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Dutchess, DollyCali, Mama_Bear ~

History and Statistics

Hawaii was admitted to the union on August 21, 1959 - the 50th state. The state of Hawaii consists of eight main islands: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the Big Island of Hawaii. Its capital is located in Honolulu, on the island of Maui. Hawaii is the most isolated population center on the face of the earth. It is 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines.

Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee, and more than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples comes from the islands.

There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. The Vowels are: A, E, I, O, U, and the Consonants: H, K, L, M, N, P, and W.

State symbols of Hawaii include the bird, Nene (pronounced "nay-nay"), or Hawaiian Goose. The tree of Hawaii is the Kukui, or Candlenut. The beautiful Hibiscus, or Pua Aloalo is Hawaii's flower.

In 1988 the yellow hibiscus, which is native to the islands, was selected to officially represent Hawaii, but you might see the red hibiscus, or any other color, as the state flower in many older photos and postcards.

From east to west Hawaii is the widest state in the United States.

There are four counties in Hawaii (Kauai; city and county of Honolulu; Maui; and Hawaii). Each city has a mayor and council in charge.

Hawaii has its own time zone (Hawaiian Standard Time.) There is no daylight savings time.) The time runs two hours behind Pacific Standard Time and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

The wind blows east to west in Hawaii. The highest recorded temperature is 96' F (Honolulu Airport), but temperatures over 92' F generally occur only once or twice a year. The lowest temperature (under 3000 feet altitude) is 56' F. Temperatures under 60' F may occur, but rarely more than once a year. In July the average daytime temperature is 82' F. Average daytime temperature in January is 72' F.

There are no racial or ethnic majorities in Hawaii. Everyone is a minority. Caucasians (Haoles) constitute about 34%; Japanese-American about 32%; Filipino-American about 16% and Chinese-American about 5%. It is very difficult to determine racial identification as most of the population has some mixture of ethnicities.

Hawaii was once an independent kingdom. (1810 - 1893) The flag was designed at the request of King Kamehameha I. It has eight stripes of white, red and blue that represent the eight main islands. The flag of Great Britain is emblazoned in the upper left corner to honor Hawaii's friendship with the British. The combination of the stripes of the United States flag and the Union Jack of Great Britain is said to have pleased the merchant shippers of both nations. The flag was adopted for official state use in 1959.

December 7th, 1941

The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.

~ Eye Witness Account (excerpt)


Pearl Harbor: Remembered
USS Arizona Memorial

The final resting place for 1,102 crewmen of the U.S.S. Arizona who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. (75 were recovered) They are still entombed within the Arizona herself. The sunken battleship is commemorated by a 184 foot-long memorial structure that spans its mid-portion. No part of the edifice touches the ship.

There are three sections in the memorial: The entry and assembly room, (a central or middle area) used for observations of the sunken ship and for ceremonies. Many visitors drop flower leis into the water from this section, honoring the dead. The third section is the shrine room. The room contains the names of all those killed on the Arizona and their names are engraved on a marble wall. Upon entering the shrine room, the reverence and honor it is was intended to inspire is immediately noticeable. All persons are keenly aware that this is hallowed ground.

The memorial's architect was Alfred Preis. After years of fund raising efforts that began 1950, the memorial finally was dedicated in 1962.

The USS Arizona is no longer in commission, contrary to popular belief. A flag of the United States of America does fly above the sunken battleship. The flag is attached to a severed mainmast of the USS Arizona.

In recent years, the memorial has come to represent all the military and associated personnel killed at Pearl Harbor.

http://my.execpc.com

I have a whole new appreciation for Mama Bear's "State" threads after spending several days researching endless Hawaii websites, collecting all kinds of information and graphics to edit and then trying to put it together in some sort of orderly fashion. Hats off to you, Lori - you have this stuff down to a science! It is not easy!

Aquamarine, Dansangel, Dutchess, Lori and I had already spotlighted our own state, and when Lori offered not long ago to 'give' us any other states we might enjoy featuring, I thought it would be fun to do Hawaii. Well! It was fun to do, but at the same time, I was a bit overwhelmed and couldn't begin to touch upon all the wonderful things about these beautiful islands. You just must go there yourselves. I did, and how I loved it! The beaches, the water, the history, Pearl Harbor, the people, the luahs.....truly an unbelievable Paradise!

I must also credit the following websites for the information used for today's post:

encarta.msn.com
www.50states.com
www.hawaii.com
www.colormatters.com
www.aloha-hawaii.com
www.melekalikimaka.com

Oh, and one more thing ..........

No Hawaii post would be complete without Hula Dancers, because we all know that in Hawaii, everybody and their dog can hula.

Mary Lucas Faustine's delightful Hawaiian art

09-27-05 ~ Hall of Fame #13

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 10-31-05 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[luvie]

That was very cool to see that thread. How the style has changed since then! Thanks for sharing!

[LadyX]

Where are you??!!
Report in, swabbie.....

[LadyX]

Billie, we need r_b to crank out some fruitcake orders for Christmas!

The Texas shooters need some for their targets at their firing ranges, for instance...

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To: Billie,Clarity,Clinton's a Lair,Invictus,LadyX,and et al

Important Notice
Due to heavy demand and despite extra workers,volunteers, all working overtime and holidays. R B's Still and Fruitcake Factory has been unable to fill a single order.

Management fells thes may be doo to sloppy wuallly controlls on ingerents and is sheckking the qualatee.

60 Posted on 08/14/2000 14:29:47 PDT by razorback-bert

LOLOL.....

[deadhead]

LOL, that was fun to read that thread, thanks DD. Just had to post this graphic from way back then. Pinging dansangel, remember how much she loves flamingos. I am not considered an 'old timer', but, I did lurk on FR back then. Billie, your Hawaii thread today is beautiful, sorry you had so many problems with it. Would sure love to visit Hawaii one day :-)

[deadhead]

Hi, Temple Owl How are you doing? How is Ink doing? Thinking of Ink and praying she is doing well.

[deadhead]

Good Night and God Bless

[LadyX]

Another excerpt:

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To: LadyX billie owk daus bluedevil et al...
Good to see y'all my friends....we are still fighting the fights worth fightings...eh?!-)

Regards to all of you 'old timers'...:)

78 Posted on 08/14/2000 22:42:22 PDT by beowolf
[ Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | Top | Last ]

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To: beowolf - Billie - Daus - scuttlebutt - A1stus - Invictus - Razorback-bert - Jim Robinson - et al

"we are still fighting the fights worth fightings...eh?!-)"
... and they'll never get YOUR goat(s), hm? How're the critters?

Have been flitting in and out of FR for some time, actually. Where else can you go to 'get it all,' and find special persons like you, beo? Too bad there's not a record of ALL the exchanges on assorted threads where we reinvented "escape" from present day concerns! You had more than your share of unique retorts.

Hey! Wouldn't you think we deserve credit for having the very first "SURVIVOR" shows? Think of all those figh- well - 'exchanges' in the Saloon!! Wasn't just everyone accusing A1stus of misdeeds - was also men agin wimmin over the decor and waterfall swimmin' rights and other important issues. 'Twas the highly refined art of 'one-upmanship' and (mostly) gentle rejoinders and subtlety. Allowed us all to back away from life's political arena and attendant frustrations and defuse. Also gave us a way to steer aside some rather volatile threads that were about to become conflagrations!!

Yeah, JR - where's our SOPAC Public Service Award to put on the bar?! :)))

79 Posted on 08/15/2000 05:24:58 PDT by LadyX

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[LadyX]

Parked the Freeper Island thread under my Favorites to have handy, Dave.

Thanks again for your detective work!

[Diver Dave]

My pleasure.

I followed along on those threads, but being the bashful one, I didn't join in on the fun. my loss.

[LadyX]

I wish you had joined us, Dave...you'd have fit in wonderfully, especially you are able to dive under the waters below the falls, at the ready to discourage/chase off any intruders on Billie's and my privacy..:))

While scuttlebutt wouldn't have cheated, you....um.....

How're Jack and Bailey?!!
LOL

[Billie]

Billie - do you still have part of that archived for newer posters to enjoy?

Sigh! Wouldn't you know - I just 'closed' the account where I had the Freeper Island graphics, etc. stored a few months ago. I see by some of the later posts that the ever-resourceful diving guy at least found the thread I posted that had the now-deleted link to it.

Attaboy, Dave. :)

[Billie]

Glad you enjoyed my Freeper Island Once More thread that Dave linked. Had almost forgotten what a crazy bunch all those people were (not me, of course!)! LOL!

[luvie]

Oh, of course not! It was fun to read and to think it was that long ago. I just wish I had known about FR then! *sigh* I was dealing with all that 2000 election stuff without support!

[Billie]

I read a few of the posts again and saw this flamingo there - I checked Birdland's name to see if he was still around, and he hasn't posted since May of this year.

[Billie]

Wish now I hadn't deleted all those Freeper Island Web Pages I made - they were made up of silly posts that Freepers actually made, but lots of cute island animations. :)

I think I have an 8 year anniversary coming up this month. One of the *first* ones to register at FR - check my *low* FR ID number. :)

[LadyX]

We really could have used you on the feminine side, Luvvy!
Billie and I had to twist arms to get the fellas to allow us to *seasonally* decorate the moose head in the Saloon.

He had sleigh bells draped on his rack for Christmas, with an ivy bowtie...red Valentines in February, four-leaf clover chains for St. Patrick's Day...top hat and red, white and blue bunting for The Fourth, etc...in between, leis and sunglasses...

Never did win the campaign to *modify* the attire of the *lady* in the velvet painting over the bar, though...

[Billie]

Well, tulip is going to give hula lessons tomorrow, Maggie - I gave her my grass skirt. LOL

[luvie]

Wow....I was just celebrating my 1st year a couple of months ago! And in some ways it seems like forever. I have learned so many new things this past year...and a lot of that is due to your teachings! Thank you for making it so much fun!

[Billie]

Never did win the campaign to *modify* the attire of the *lady* in the velvet painting over the bar, though...

Well, boys will be boys after all. :)

[luvie]

I wish I had known about this place then....we could have really given the guys palpitations with our feminine side! LOL! We would have draped everything!