Secret Santa Lives On

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Susan Dahl had spent four months homeless in Colorado and just been on a harrowing 10-hour bus trip through sleet and snow. Hungry and broke, all she wanted to do was get back to family in Minnesota.

That's when a tall man in a red coat and red hat sat next to her at the downtown bus station, talked to her quietly and then slipped her $100 on that recent December afternoon.

The man was doing the work of Larry Stewart, Kansas City's original Secret Santa who anonymously wandered city streets doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they needed it. Stewart died of cancer at age 58 earlier this year, but his legacy lives on.

Christmas is just a day

As Christmas draws near, John Foster won't be decorating a tree, shopping for last-minute gifts or working on a holiday sermon for his flock. After all, it's been 50 years since Christmas was anything more than a day of the week to him.

He's one of very few American Christian pastors who follow what used to be the norm in many Protestant denominations — rejecting the celebration of Christmas on religious grounds.

Five Realities

Gautama awakened to five realities, which are significant in negotiating our life process. They are the truth of suffering in life; the principle of interdependence, the essence of life; the middle path of balance and moderation as the style of life; and the understanding that nothing has a fixed nature or value but is constantly changing. Finally, there is the eightfold noble path focused on realizing these truths within our own experience.

Ziggy Marley's religion

“My No. 1 issue is love and people not having the ability to love each other,"says Ziggy, the founder of U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment), a charitable organization that benefits a wide range of children’s causes in Jamaica. “This is what causes everything else to happen - poverty, starvation, wars. It’s caused by us not loving each other. If we could learn that lesson, that would be the solution.So my biggest problem is people not loving each other and not understanding that within the concepts of religion, which controls so many people’s mentality on this earth, and which causes so much strife and negative energy. If we could get across to them that the message is love, it’s not about what religion you are or how you practice it. The hypocrisy and confusion of religion is common because every religion thinks it’s right. And in every religion, most people want to change somebody into their religion. But love don’t change nobody. Love is something that makes you change yourself.”

Akaka and Abercrombie defend the Akaka Bill

Washington Post columnist George F. Will's distasteful column on the Akaka Bill, published in the Star-Bulletin Friday, demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of Hawaiian history and insensitivity to the rights of native people in Hawaii and across the nation. It is disappointing and outrageous to compare the systematic atrocities of the Nazis against Jews to the efforts of our host culture to exercise control over their culture and their destiny.

Hawaiians, like our nation's other indigenous people, share a history as political entities, exercising governance on lands which later became the United States.

The U.S. government played a key role in this sad saga in 1893, when U.S. Minister to the Kingdom John Stevens formally supported Westerners seeking to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani by ordering armed U.S. troops to land in Honolulu and take up military positions at key government buildings to intimidate the queen. To avoid bloodshed, she agreed to step down temporarily, believing that the United States would restore her to the throne when it learned what had happened. And, in fact, after incoming President Grover Cleveland received a full accounting of the facts, he characterized the action of Minister Stevens and the U.S. troops as an "act of war" and called for restoration of the kingdom.

chained dogs

Question: My neighbor chains his dog in his back yard. I am on good terms with him; what can I do to help the dog without causing tension between our families?

stem cells from skin cells?

Separate teams of scientists on two continents revealed Tuesday that they have created stem cells from human skin cells - a development that eventually could allow researchers to sidestep the contentious moral issues that have hobbled early studies in a promising field.

The startling breakthrough was hailed by parties on all sides of the stem cell debate because it raised the prospect that the controversial destruction of human embryos and the need to harvest eggs from women donors might one day no longer be needed.

Marvel Comics online

[12/5/10] I notice in the latest Edward R. Hamilton catalog, they are featuring some of the Marvel Masterworks volumes for $9.95. I was especially interested in Avengers and X-Men, so those were comics I bought when I was first starting to buy comics and I missed buying the earliest episodes. I still hope to sell my old issues on eBay (maybe... I'm hoping they don't disintegrate when I take them out of storage). Then I'll still have the issues and can sell the originals. That's the plan.

Apparently there were both hardcover and paperback versions of these. And there's a pretty comprehensive website devoted to these books.

The Avengers might become pretty popular now with the upcoming movie. There's also a new cartoon series now running on DisneyXD with a lot of the characters/plots adapted from the early days.

***

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Marvel is putting some of its older comics online Tuesday, hoping to reintroduce young people to the X-Men and Fantastic Four by showcasing the original issues in which such characters appeared.

It's a tentative move onto the Internet: Comics can only be viewed in a Web browser, not downloaded, and new issues will only go online at least six months after they first appear in print. Still, it represents perhaps the comics industry's most aggressive Web push yet.

... The publisher is hoping fans will be intrigued enough about the origins of those characters to shell out $9.99 a month, or $4.99 monthly with a year-long commitment. For that price, they'll be able to poke through, say, the first 100 issues of Stan Lee's 1963 creation "Amazing Spider-Man" at their leisure, along with more recent titles like "House of M" and "Young Avengers." Comics can be viewed in several different formats, including frame-by-frame navigation.

Ring expects Marvel's effort to put a slight dent in the back-issue segment of the comic shop industry, where rare, out-of-print titles sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay and at trade shows.

Though most comic fans are collectors, some simply want to catch up on the backstory of their favorite characters and would no longer have to pay top dollar to do so.

Happiness, Bhutan-style

Is there anyone who would say no to happiness? Bhutan is a place where the government decided to make the governing rule about happiness - the Gross National Happiness.

After all, Bhutan, which is isolated high in the Himalayas between China and India, has lush waterfalls, green forests, quaint villages and an active farming community.

Local veteran filmmakers Tom Vendetti, John Wehrheim and Robert Stone were among the first western filmmakers allowed in the country to share the story of Bhutan, which previously issued only 500 visas a year. The Oahu debut of their film, Bhutan: Taking The Middle Path To Happiness, screens Nov. 17 at the East-West Center and Nov. 18 at UHManoa.

*** 4/25/14

[After blogging about Tom Shadyac] I wonder if there's any documentaries about Bhutan on Netflix or Hulu?  Nope, nope.  Snagfilms has Into The Thunderdragon which is about bringing extreme unicycling into Bhutan, not quite on topic.  HitBliss?  Nope.

Googling, I see there are several movies out there.

Bhutan: Taking The Middle Path To Happiness (available on Amazon Instant Video)
Happiness (article)
The Happiest Place: A Journey Across Bhutan (kickstarter)
Bhutan: a Kingdom of Happiness
Bhutan: The Road to Happiness

Apparently, except for the first, these are hard to find.  Not apparently.

Here's a short documentary on youtube called Bhutan: The Kingdom Where GDP Is Measured In Happiness.

Another short feature called Bhutan - The happiest on Earth - One Life

Gross National Happiness in Bhutan (which is excerpts from a film)

Bhutan: The Last Place (from PBS)

The big person

Confucius, that fountainhead of Chinese philosophy, often contrasts the big person with the small one. In his Analects, we read, "The big person sees a question from all sides; the small person, only from one."

Be a tough customer

Becoming a savvy consumer entails more than finding designer clothes on a sale rack. It means taking the initiative to obtain high-quality services and products at the best possible prices -- and then being assertive if you're dissatisfied.

Read Up

"Buy -- don't be sold -- products," says Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. Don't just go into an electronics store and ask the salesman to suggest a digital camera; do research on available features and prices first. Web sites including ConsumerReports.org, ConsumerWorld.org and PriceGrabber.com make it easy to compare items by quality and user reviews and check prices across stores and Web retailers.

In addition, be careful when shopping via Craigslist.org or Facebook.com's Marketplace application, particularly for expensive items. Since the Web sites do not take responsibility for fraudulent transactions, do extra research on the product and seller. Craigslist.org's help forum suggests meeting the seller in person and cautions against giving out financial information like bank-account numbers.

Keep Up

When you bring home your latest gadget or garment, don't toss the receipt in the trash. By keeping receipts and documents and, in some cases, packaging, you leave the option open to return items. Also, many stores offer a low-price guarantee: they will issue a credit or give cash back if the item's price drops or if you find it cheaper elsewhere.

Web sites like Shoeboxed.com, FileMyReceipt.com and MakeLifeEasy.com offer free tools to help organize and store your receipts online.

Also, promptly review all phone, utility, credit-card and insurance bills, watching for unclear "miscellaneous" fees and making sure you are charged only for services you've authorized and items you've bought.

Making Peace

A professional peacemaker says the process of reconciliation after political and ethnic violence requires listening to the perpetrators as well as the victims of human rights violations.

Reaching peace starts by seeking to understand who is "the other," said Glenda Wildschut, who was named to the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995 by Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected president of that nation.

Taoist photography

If Zen masters practice their philosophy through the art of calligraphy and flower arrangement, why can't a photographer exercise his Taoist sensibilities through his camera?

The answer is, he can. Philippe Gross, a research psychologist who had his first experience behind the lens at age 8, empties his mind of mental chatter while observing the world with camera in hand. It's all about staying present, he says.

Achieving peace in schools

Bullying behavior reflects a symptom of a larger problem that is common throughout society. By addressing it at the source, we have the potential for not only diminishing the level of violence in the schools, but we might also diminish the level of chronic diseases and drug use.

My suggestion returns to the concept of "peace begins with me" -- achieving inner peace and self-acceptance. Research on the mainland and in Canada shows that two programs can have a profound impact on creating inner peace and, in doing so, can transform the school.

The first program, mindfulness, teaches people to take an inner "time out," to become quiet inside and peacefully observe and experience the fullness of the moment they are in and the thoughts that float across the surface of their minds. Research shows that children become calmer, more responsive and less reactive. Conflict in the playground and the classroom is greatly diminished with children who participate. One classroom went from having the most behavioral problems in school to having no behavior problems -- in only three weeks of mindfulness instruction.

The other program teaches a grateful state of mind. It, too, is simple, goes to the source, is easy to learn and free of charge and has impressive outcomes.

By keeping a daily gratitude journal or starting off the day writing down five things they are grateful for, children experience both mental and physical benefits. They show increased scores of life satisfaction and optimism, feel better about life and about school and have decreased negative feelings. A study of middle-school children in Vancouver who were instructed in mindfulness and gratitude experienced almost immediate results.

-- Laura Crites

Around the world in 13 years

He was hit by a car in Colorado, attacked by a crocodile in Australia, detained as a suspected spy in Egypt and survived illness and periods of despair.

On Saturday, British adventurer Jason Lewis finally came home, completing a 13-year, 46,000-mile human-powered circumnavigation of the globe.

Conscientious have lower risk of Alzheimer's

A surprising study of elderly people suggests that those who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower risk for developing Alzheimer's disease than people who are less conscientious.

A purposeful personality may somehow protect the brain, perhaps by increasing neural connections that can act as a reserve against mental decline, said study co-author Robert Wilson of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.

Astoundingly, the brains of some of the dutiful people in the study were examined after their deaths and were found to have lesions that would meet accepted criteria for Alzheimer's – even though these people had shown no signs of dementia.

single-gender education

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - David Chadwell believes boys and girls can get through the awkward middle school years better when they're separated, learning in classrooms tailored to the learning styles of each gender.

As the country's first and only statewide coordinator of single-gender education, Chadwell is helping to make South Carolina a leader among public schools that offer such programs. About 70 schools offer the program now, and the goal is to have programs available to every child within five years, he said.

The theory is that by separating girls and boys _ especially during middle school years typically marked by burgeoning hormones, self doubt and peer pressure _ lessons can be more effective because they are in unique classroom settings.

Jellyfish.com

Jellyfish.com launched in the summer of 2006. It offered many of the same product-related search features you'd find on similar sites, like CNET Networks' (Nasdaq: CNET) MySimon.com, or Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Products -- the site formerly known as "Froogle." But unlike its predecessors, Jellyfish is a comparison-shopping website that eats like a loyalty program.

"Jellyfish is the ONLY shopping engine to directly share $ with you," explains the site. "As a Jellyfish member, you'll receive automatic savings on everything you buy. Think of us as a search engine for shopping, except we share at least half of every $1 we earn when you shop. I bet your search engine has never done that!"

no thumbs

Film critic Roger Ebert said he never gave a “thumbs down” to the use of thumbs in reviews for “At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper” during contract negotiations.

In a statement released Friday to The Associated Press, the TV show’s distributor, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, said Ebert had “exercised his right to withhold use of the ‘thumbs’ until a new contract is signed.” Ebert is a copyright holder on the signature “thumbs up-thumbs down” judgment that’s part of each film review.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic responded in a statement Saturday on his Web site, saying he “had made it clear the Thumbs could remain during good-faith negotiations,” contrary to Disney’s press release.

Narrowness of Perception

A recurring theme in experimental psychology is the narrowness of perception: how very little of the sensory clamor makes its way into awareness. Earlier in the day, before the magic show, a neuroscientist had demonstrated a phenomenon called inattentional blindness with a video made at the Visual Cognition Laboratory at the University of Illinois.

In the video, six men and women — half with white shirts and half with black — are tossing around a couple of basketballs. Viewers are asked to count how many times members of, say, the white team, manage to complete a pass, keeping the ball from the opposition. I dutifully followed the instructions and was surprised when some 15 seconds into the game, laughter began to ripple through the audience. Only when I watched a second time did I see the person in the gorilla suit walking on from stage left. (The video is online at viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html.)

What's at the Heart of Happiness?

No, happiness isn't a lottery ticket away.

I am fascinated by academic studies of human happiness, because they bring scientific rigor to issues we all grapple with. We think more money will make us happier and yet studies suggest Americans are no more satisfied than they were three decades ago, when the standard of living was much lower.

So if winning the lottery won't do the trick, what will? Here are seven key lessons from happiness research. It is indeed possible to boost our happiness -- but it'll take more than a fat wallet.

1. What matters is what we focus on.

Those with higher incomes aren't necessarily happier. But when asked how satisfied they are with their lives, high earners are more likely to say they're happy.

Why? The question makes them ponder their position in society -- and they realize they're pretty lucky. The implication: If you have a hefty portfolio or hefty paycheck, you can probably bolster your happiness by regularly contemplating your good fortune.

Meanwhile, if you are less well off, avoid situations where you feel deprived -- and seek out those where comparisons are in your favor. Rather than buying the cheapest house in a wealthy neighborhood, settle for a town where people have similar salaries. When you think about your net worth, forget your well-heeled sister and focus on your cash-strapped brother.

2. Don't go it alone.

Studies have found that married folks are happier than those who are single.

"Marriage provides two sources of happiness," says Andrew Oswald, an economics professor at England's Warwick University. "One is sex and the other is friendship. Marriage has one of the largest impacts on human well-being."

Similarly, spending time with friends can boost happiness. Studies indicate that commuting is one of life's least enjoyable activities, that looking after the kids is more of a struggle than we like to admit and that eating is one of life's great pleasures.

But all of these things can be enhanced by adding friends. Commuting with others will make the trip less grim, playing with the kids will be more fun if there's another adult along and eating with others is better than eating alone.

3. We like to feel secure.

Midlife is a period of relative unhappiness. This dissatisfaction may stem from the lack of control felt by those in their 40s, as they juggle raising children and the demands of work.

By contrast, employees in senior positions, retirees and those with good job security often report being happy. One explanation: They have greater control over their daily lives.

"There's a profound link between insecurities of all kinds and human well-being," Prof. Oswald notes. "Supervisors are happier than those who are supervised. Job loss is an enormous negative and job security is an enormous plus to mental health."

4. We enjoy making progress.

Studies suggest we prefer leisure to work. But that doesn't mean work is always a source of unhappiness. We like the feeling of performing a job competently and being in the flow of work.

"There are definitely better and worse jobs," says David Schkade, a management professor at the University of California at San Diego. "If you're in the flow more often, that's going to be a better job."

But Prof. Schkade says work's real pleasure may come from the sense of accomplishment we feel afterward. "We know progress makes people feel good," he says. "You should design a life where you have that feeling of progress."

Work also has the benefit of making leisure seem sweeter, Prof. Schkade adds. This may be the reason seniors who set out solely to relax and have fun are often disappointed by their retirement.

5. We adapt to improvements.

In pursuit of progress, we strive for faster cars, fatter paychecks and winning lottery tickets.

Yet, when we get what we hanker after, we quickly become dissatisfied and soon we're lusting after something else. Academics refer to this as the "hedonic treadmill" or "hedonic adaptation."

We may, however, be able to slow the process of adaptation. If we go out and celebrate our recent promotion, we will hang onto the good feelings for a little longer. If we bought a house last year, we may recover some of the initial thrill by pausing to admire our new home.

We should also think about how we spend our money. It seems we get more lasting happiness from experiences than goods.

If we buy a new car, it will eventually go from being our pride and joy to being a scruffy set of wheels with an irritating rattle. But if we spend our money on meals with friends or vacations with family, we will be left with fond memories that may grow even fonder with time.

6. We also adapt to setbacks.

While adaptation can work against us when good things happen, it saves us from misery when bad times strike. If a close friend dies, we imagine we will never laugh again. But adaptation rides to the rescue.

Oddly enough, it seems we adjust more quickly if a setback is large or irreversible. If we become disabled, we will likely adapt with surprising speed. If our spouse is a slob, we may never get used to it.

One reason: We figure there's still a chance our spouse will change his or her slovenly ways.

7. We enjoy behaving virtuously.

If we volunteer, give to charity or behave politely, we usually feel pretty good.

Pure altruism? It may, instead, be our ancient instincts kicking in. Good behavior paid big dividends in ancient societies, notes Boston money manager Terry Burnham, co-author of "Mean Genes."

"Virtue is built into us because virtue was rewarded," he argues. "In small-scale societies, where you are well known, there are rewards for being a good citizen and severe punishments for being a rule breaker."

Still, whatever our true motivation, behaving virtuously is almost always a good thing -- and it will likely make us happier.

Jonathan Clements also writes the "Getting Going" column that appears Wednesdays in The Wall Street Journal. Write to him at: jonathan.clements@wsj.com.

Awaken The Dragon

Bruce Lee's classic martial arts film Enter the Dragon is getting remade by Warner Bros., reports the Associated Press. The redux, to be called Awaken the Dragon, will be written and directed by Kurt Sutter, a producer on the TV series The Shield.

The 1973 original had Lee traveling to an island fortress where a villain hosts a martial-arts tournament. Warner Bros. tells the AP that the remake will be about an FBI agent who is investigating a Shaolin monk and "underground kung fu fight clubs," so there seems to be some similarity in terms of story there.

It remains to be seen who will be cast to play the lead role, though filling Lee's shoes will be a very big job indeed. Lee died just prior to the release of Enter the Dragon in 1973.

Twenty Million

We were taught that the American Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars, taking nearly 700,000 lives. That seems like a lot, especially when you consider that fewer than 4,000 Americans have died in our current war. But according to a buddy of mine, A.J. Jacobs, who wrote a book about how he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, at about the time of the Civil War, a war was raging in China that took about 20 million lives. TWENTY MILLION! The conflict is referred to quaintly, or bizarrely, as the Taiping Rebellion.

USA like Rome?

The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.

David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”.

These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.

[via pohick2@chucks_angels]

Jack Kirby revived

And now, 40 years later and 13 years after his death, the "Fourth Universe" is seeing the light of day again in swelligant new printings by DC. The first volume of "Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus" collects his first works for the company when he, of all things, reinvented the lame also-ran title "Jimmy Olsen -- Superman's Pal" as a parable of the shifting forces of nature and destiny, played out in startling, vivid style. It was dense, packed comics-izations, like eating a whole pizza.

The book and Kirby's work gets the full treatment here, and the printing is extraordinarily good. DC must have kept the original artwork. The colors are so densely printed they seem as solid as poster paints.

The book is not just a blast from the past, but a blast of the future.

The tallest country in the world

America used to be the tallest country in the world. From the days of the founding fathers right on through the industrial revolution and two world wars, Americans literally towered over other nations. In a land of boundless open spaces and limitless natural abundance, the young nation transformed its increasing wealth into human growth.

But just as it has in so many other arenas, America's predominance in height has faded. Americans reached a height plateau after World War II, gradually falling behind the rest of the world as it continued growing taller.

By the time the baby boomers reached adulthood in the 1960s, most northern and western European countries had caught up with and surpassed the United States. Young adults in Japan and other prosperous Asian countries now stand nearly as tall as Americans do.

Even residents of the formerly communist East Germany are taller than Americans today. In Holland, the tallest country in the world, the typical man now measures 6 feet, a good two inches more than his average American counterpart.

Compare that to 1850, when the situation was reversed. Not just the Dutch but all the nations of western Europe stood 2 1/2 inches shorter than their American brethren.

Belief and Disbelief

It matters what you believe. I mean, really believe. Not just think you are supposed to believe, or even wish you believed. If the concept has any meaning, it refers to the actual wellsprings of behavior, the assumptions you make about how things are and about how you actually respond as a result. Ultimately, it is only what you really do believe that matters.

If you are uncertain about this, ask yourself how you behave "as if" you believed. It is likely different from what you tell yourself, and others, about what you believe.

PBS is running a three-part series by Jonathan Miller titled "A Brief History of Disbelief." It had previously aired on the BBC. The series was introduced recently on the Bill Moyers program with an interview with Jonathan Miller.

For history buffs, and all of us with short historical memories, it is a rough romp through the history of the diversity of opinion on matters religious. It is also a review of the challenges to literalism and dogmatic orthodoxy in Western Christian history.

On a deeper level, it is about the curious human phenomenon of belief itself, about the ways in which rigid belief can shred lives and breed violence. It is a reminder of just how tenuous freedom of belief is and how peculiar the "modern" idea of religious pluralism is.

How to Be Happy Right Now

From the beginning of human history we have been searching for happiness. Most of our daily functions and overall desires all revolve around "being happy."

Some, the very adept, are able to reach that state of pure happiness through spiritual ascension, via ascetic practices. Going on retreat to the middle of nowhere and living in a monastery devoid of life's simple pleasures, does not seem like a practical option for a normal human being living in the 21st Century. For us, the normal human beings, spiritual ascension is a goal we might want but not at the expense of "living life to the fullest."

So we come to this statement:

More important than spiritual ascension is personal contentment.

Only with personal contentment can you ascend spiritually. Personal contentment does not mean material or sensory satisfaction. Personal contentment means to be truly happy with yourself right here and now.

From this state of personal contentment EVERYTHING is possible. Personal contentment brings peace of mind. That's why I have developed Gratitude-Bliss Meditation (GBM). Based on ancient philosophies and good old common sense, GBM is the perfect solution for 21st Century fast-paced life. This technique will put you in a state of contentment, guaranteed. Just like 1 + 1 = 2, following these instructions cannot fail.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions a human being can experience. It alone can put you in a state of Bliss (contentment). A grateful mind is a content mind. A grateful mind needs nothing. When you are in a state of Gratitude, peace and overall contentment follows.

So from this we can say that...

Gratitude = contentment = True Happiness (Bliss)

-- By Urayoan Paz via Herbert Gordon

Keeping Dogs Friendly

In a pack, dogs communicate by barking, whining, tail-wagging, licking, and, once in a while, by biting. The trouble is, most dogs don't live in packs anymore -- they live with us. Yet they haven't learned to communicate the way we do. As a result, every year dogs bite about 4.7 million people, most of them children.

That number is on the rise despite ongoing efforts by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Veterinary Medical Association, and other groups to get the word out on bite prevention. A big hurdle faced by groups like these is that much of the popular wisdom on keeping dogs friendly is just plain wrong. Here are a few of of the most enduring myths and the correct information for understanding dogs and staying safe around them.

MYTH Approach the dog and stick your hand out so it can sniff you.
TRUTH Yes, it is important to let a strange dog smell you, but always let him approach you. Sticking your hand in a dog's face may be construed as a threat. Stand still with your hands at your side or crossed in front of you for protection, says Liam Crowe, dog trainer and head of operations for Bark Busters, an in-home dog training company with branches throughout the US and Canada. Always ask an adult owner for permission to pet before touching the dog. When you pet the dog, stroke him along his upper body or under his chin, which is less threatening than a strange hand coming at his head. Never allow children to hug a dog. Kids think it's friendly but, in a pack, a dog equates covering another's body with establishing dominance. A dog that disagrees may snap.

MYTH A wagging tail indicates a friendly dog.
TRUTH Tail wagging means a dog is excited, says Wayne Hunthausen, a veterinarian at Westwood Animal Hospital in Westwood, Kansas, and author of Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat. But that may be a good excitement or a bad one. "It is the quality of the wag that tells you what is going on."

If a dog is friendly, his tail will wag low (horizontal to or lower than his body) and his whole back end will move. Beware the dog that is holding his tail high and wagging stiffly.

MYTH Try to get away from a dog if it starts to attack.
TRUTH Stand tall and still and avoid direct eye contact. Do not curl up into a ball unless you have already been knocked to the ground. If so, stay quiet and cover your ears with your fists for protection. The dog may see this as submission and walk away.

MYTH Your family dog will never bite you.
TRUTH "Parents come into my office and brag about how tolerant their dog is, but all dogs bite when they've had enough," says Hunthausen. Never leave anyone under the age of 12 alone with a dog. Kids' small size and sudden movements can startle a dog into snapping its teeth. Unfortunately, all too many times the dog connects and it results in an injury that was never intended.

-- LORI NUDO, Better Homes and Gardens, May 2006

PACK BEHAVIOR
More and more, dog obedience schools are teaching owners using knowledge of pack behavior. Because these behaviors are hardwired into dogs, this kind of training makes it easier for your dog to learn, says Liam Crowe, head of U.S. operations for Bark Busters, a company that uses such techniques. A whole course can take as little as 2 hours. Learn more at 877/280-7100 or barkbusters.com.

Brainwashing Kids In Religion

The late mathematician-philosopher Bertrand Russell said if he claimed a teapot too small to be seen by any telescope orbited between the Sun and the Earth, we’d call him crazy. But if you’d been told about it since you were a child starting school, you’d say “So what’s new? Everybody knows about the teapot.”

Critical thinkers are taught never to question faith. It’s impolite to ask someone at a party if he believes in God. It’s also not done, I think, because for some people answering yes or no might be embarrassing. Most people brought up in a Christian home call themselves Christians. They really haven’t given much thought to why that is.

* * *

Readers respond to Bob Jones

LinkTV

let's say you are a news fanatic (like me) and "Desperate Housewives" is not your first choice for viewing pleasure. Where would you go?

I posed that question to local documentary filmmaker and online TV entrepreneur, Edgy Lee. Without dropping a beat, Edgy enthusiastically replied "LinkTV."

"This illustrates one of the best things about the evolving Internet," said Edgy. "You get world news with a point of view that's just not available on network television. And the music is the best."

Kam Bowl

After nearly 50 years in business, Kam Bowl, the popular lanes near the Kamehameha Shopping Center in Kalihi, will close next week because it has lost its lease.

That puts its regulars in a bit of a bind. The closure will leave only four public alleys left on Oahu, and one of them, Waialae Bowl in Kahala, will close in February, its owner says.

Meanwhile, the Kapiolani Coffee Shop, which is in the bowling alley on School Street, will close June 28, but reopen a little more than a mile away at City Square on Dillingham Boulevard to serve up its popular oxtail soup.

What to Do When You Lose Your Wallet

Missing wallets can, unfortunately, mean that thieves are fast at work. Here's a quick guide on how to foil the bad guys (and save yourself a big headache).

How to Outsmart Burglars

No one likes to lose their valuables, and especially not by way of a burglar raiding their home. Even though property crimes have drastically dropped since 1991, there are still more than 2 million burglaries per annum in the United States.

So how can you outsmart a savvy property thief?

We have all heard by now that hiding money under the mattress is not a good idea, since that is one of the first spots where a burglar would look.

Then again, says a blog called Personal Finance Advice, you might want to do just that: leaving small amounts of money in obvious places--under the mattress, in a cookie jar, in a drawer--to prevent your real stash of cash from being found.

In a February 2007 entry, one pfadvice.com blogger describes a conversation with a former burglar, including interesting tips that might trick an intruder and make him leave (almost) empty-handed.

What you have to know, explains the anonymous ex-felon, is that 99% of burglars are not of the "this is my chosen profession and I take pride in it" kind. "They are part of organized crime, they are part of a gang or [...] they are drug addicts."

Keep in mind, he says, a burglar wants to steal as much as possible in the shortest time possible. On the other hand, finding nothing at all could frustrate the thief so much that he starts turning your house upside down in search of money... hence the tip to leave small amounts in easy-to-find places.

"If I can't find money and valuables in the normal places I usually find them, I would continue to tear the house apart until I found something. Remember, the first rule is to steal money and valuables. We'll keep looking until we find something."

But don't leave too little, he recommends. In a modest home, $100 will suffice. If you live in a wealthy neighborhood, however, and the crook finds only $100 lying around, he will assume that there must be more.

Here's some more good advice from the retired burglar:

Write "Bank Safe Deposit Box" on an envelope and fill it with a list of items. Put the envelope in an easily accessible drawer so it can be found by the burglar. This will tell him that most of your assets are stored at the bank.

Safes are generally not a good idea. If it's a portable one, the burglar will just carry it with him. If it's non-portable and looks impressive enough, he might be tempted to wait for you to come home and force you to open it at gunpoint.

When you choose a hiding place, think like a burglar. The box stashed way back in your closet might be inconvenient for you to get to, but it's one of the places where a thief would look first. In case of an intruder who's also a drug addict, he would likely search your toilet tank, cereal boxes, the refrigerator and freezer, and the medicine cabinet.

If you have children, consider hiding some cash away in their room (here, messiness actually works in your favor), maybe even inside a toy. Burglars usually won't look for valuables there. Other good hiding places are the underside of trash cans, laundry detergent boxes or bottles, empty soup cans, etc. Just make sure, warns the conman, that those "false packages" are in the appropriate spot, that is, in the laundry room or pantry.

If you can get past the "yuk factor," you can purchase a so-called "Brief Safe" that looks like badly stained underwear and can be kept at the bottom of a bedroom closet or in the laundry basket. The skid mark safe contains a small pocket to insert money, and--Mr. Z agrees--it is unlikely that any burglar will touch it.

Pacific Buddhist Academy to graduate first class

Four years after opening, the Pacific Buddhist Academy, the only Shin Buddhist high school in the country, will graduate its first class Friday.

Sheldon Konno, a senior who came from the mission school, said the academy lets him analyze current events by making peace a focus of every subject.

"It helps you look at a situation differently," the 17-year-old said. "Like with the war in Iraq. What's the purpose of war? The U.S. is getting oil ... but you are taking away someone's child."

When studying slavery in American studies, students look at the history of the slave trade and what led to it, but also the "human essence of the topic," school head Pieper Toyama said.

"The central issue is, How can one human being treat another human being that way?" said Toyama, a former headmaster of the private Parker School in Waimea on the Big Island.

"One can say this was a failing of how we were educated as teachers," he added. "Paying attention to peace was not part of our education, and sometimes I think that's why we get into the problems we get into today."

Red-light cameras

PUBLIC outrage about a flawed program to catch speeding cars on camera five years ago has caused state legislators to be camera-shy. Part of that program called for eventual placement of cameras atop traffic lights at intersections to catch cars running red lights, but the entire program came crashing down before it could be implemented. The red-light program should be restored. [starbulletin editorial 4/27/07]

* * *

Advocating ticket cameras in your April 27 editorial, "Use cameras to catch red-light violators," was irresponsible because red-light ticket cameras increase accidents at intersections.

You cited a number of communities that use ticket cameras at intersections. Yet no mention was made of the many communities that have rejected the cameras because of their dismal safety record. You mentioned the District of Columbia as using the cameras but failed to mention a recent and extensive study done by the Washington Post that shows accidents doubled at intersections where the cameras are used in D.C.

Thenewspaper.com has five pages of links to news articles chronicling the devastating effects of these cameras.

You mentioned a few studies to back your claims. The National Motorists Association Web site has 15 studies from the United States, Canada and Australia showing that red-light ticket cameras increase accidents and only serve as a revenue source. [Letter to the editor, 5/2/07]

* * *

Here are some excerpts from the Washington Post article cited above

The city has cameras at 45 intersections. They take photographs of cars running red lights, generating tickets that are processed by a private contractor. Police oversee the issuance of tickets, which carry $75 fines, and the money goes into the city's general fund -- nearly $5 million last year.

The Post obtained a D.C. database generated from accident reports filed by police. The data covered the entire city, including the 37 intersections where cameras were installed in 1999 and 2000.

The analysis shows that the number of crashes at locations with cameras more than doubled, from 365 collisions in 1998 to 755 last year. Injury and fatal crashes climbed 81 percent, from 144 such wrecks to 262. Broadside crashes, also known as right-angle or T-bone collisions, rose 30 percent, from 81 to 106 during that time frame. Traffic specialists say broadside collisions are especially dangerous because the sides are the most vulnerable areas of cars.

...

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he remains convinced that the devices are worthwhile. Even if the number of crashes is not going down, he said, citations for red-light running have dropped by about 60 percent at intersections that have cameras.

Ramsey said the number of accidents would be even higher without the cameras, adding that he would like to install them at every traffic light in the city. He pointed to last year's steep decrease in traffic fatalities -- 45 people died compared with 69 in 2003 -- as evidence that the program is working.

"I'd rather have them than not have them," Ramsey said. "They make people slow down. They reduce the number of traffic violations, and that's a good thing."

Dog training tips

a free online book while I was googling Dog Whisperer

new rules of the road

Old habit: Set your outside mirrors so you can see the sides of your car.
New rule: Adjust the mirrors outward so the sides of the car are just outside your view, advises John McElroy. This greatly reduces or eliminates blind spots.

[from State Farm 2003] By properly adjusting your side-view mirrors and continuing to use your rear-view mirror you can reduce the 'blind spot.' For the driver-side mirror, place the left side of your face against the inside drivers side window, and set the mirror so you can just see the lst side of your car. For the passenger-side mirror, sit in the center of the front seat (if your car has bucket seats, lean to get your head as close to the center of the front seat (if your car has bucket seats, lean to get your head as close to the center of the windshield as possible) and set the mirror so you can just see the right side of your car. If you have adjusted your mirrors properly, you won't be able to see either side of your car in the mirrors while driving.

[1/11/09 starbulletin] Adjust the driver’s seat to the correct position. Lean your head and torso over to the left until your head contacts the window glass. I know, that seems too far. But trust me. Now, adjust the left-side mirror outward until you can barely see your own fender in it. Next, lean over to the right a similar distance, and adjust the right-side mirror so you can just see your own rear fender. Sit up straight. Your mirrors are now set to allow you to see other cars in your blind spot. You won’t need to swivel your neck around to be aware of traffic hiding at 60 mph right beside you. And the interior mirror will still let you see the traffic directly behind.

1-800-GOT JUNK?

Oahu's definitely got junk.

One needs to look no further than the instant success of the first Hawaii-based 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise.

Operated by Sandi McDowell, who left her job as head of a travel agency, Hawaii's first junk-removal franchise has seen business more than double the first year.

Sanjaya

Sanjaya Malakar, the undertalented but unflappable singer who horrified and captivated millions in his improbable "American Idol" run, was finally voted off the show last night.

The Loved Dog

Is Oprah abandoning Cesar? In a recent show, Tamar Geller was a guest, demonstrating a kinder and gentler way to having dogs behave.

* * *

Tamar Geller, a former Israeli intelligence officer who became a dog trainer to the stars, says the most important thing animal lovers can do for their dogs is to "empower them."

Geller, who calls herself a "life coach for dogs," offers her philosophy and specific tips for pet owners in her just-published book, The Loved Dog: The Playful, Non-aggressive Way to Teach Your Dog Good Behavior (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $24.95).

"I'm completely against the notion of having your dog be submissive to you," she says. "There's a difference between submissive and well mannered. I want them to be empowered and well mannered."

* * *

More dog books while browsing

The Power of Positive Dog Training

[5/2 - see also tamikat's list of Positive Dog Training Books]

and then from a review of above

Playtraining Your Dog

Natural Dog Training by Kevin Behan

In fact, the reviewer is a guy named Lee Charles Kelley who is an author that also trains dogs. His method is based on Behan. Naturally enough, he thinks highly of Behan's book calling it "the best book every written about dogs". On his site, he calls into question the alpha theory and instead favors emergence theory. (He admittedly stands alone in applying it to dog behaviour.)

Don Ho

Hawaii has lost one of its most popular attractions with the death of Hawaiian entertainer Don Ho.

Promoter-producer Tom Moffatt said he once told a Los Angeles Times reporter, "People who come to Hawaii know three things -- Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor and Don Ho.

"His name is synonymous with Hawaii."

Ho died yesterday morning at the Queen's Medical Center of heart failure at age 76.

Ho, famous for his hit songs "Tiny Bubbles" and "I'll Remember You," played to capacity crowds in Waikiki for more than 40 years with a signature "Ain't No Big Thing" style.

It's Me or the Dog

With the success of the Dog Whisperer, I now see that a couple of new shows about correcting dog behavior have appeared on Animal Planet:

Divine Canine. Besides being monks, they train dogs. They have a book called How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners.

It's Me or The Dog. Instead of a guy from Mexico, it's a lady from England (Victoria Stillwell). Her book, naturally enough, is called It's Me or the Dog.

Here's one I haven't seen yet, Barking Mad, which deals not only with dogs but other animals as well.

I don't see that on this week, but I do see Good Dog U.

The Forbidden Kingdom

The forthcoming martial-arts actioner that will pair Jackie Chan with Jet Li has a title and a tentative release date. The Forbidden Kingdom, formerly referred to as "Untitled J&J Project," has been picked up by Lionsgate who will partner with The Weinstein Co. on the project.

The long-pondered big-screen pairing of two of the most prolific martial arts action stars will hit theaters in September 2008.

Bark Busters

Visitors to Scott Argus’ home in Kaimuki are promptly greeted by his four-member dog-squad. There’s Rufy, the big giant teddy bear; Chili, the pup of a Queensland healer and Catahoula McNab/border collie mix; Chico, an Australian blue healer, and little Lucky, a fox terrier and Chihuahua mix.

“This is a big dog house,” laughs Argus. “The dogs just let us live here.”

This well-behaved crew of canines can attribute their good manners to Argus’ dog training methods, afterall, their master is also the owner of the local franchise of Bark Busters Home Dog Training.

Bark Busters training methods help dogs who are nuisance barkers, have aggressive behavior, pull on their leash, toilet in the house, have separation anxiety or other deviant behaviors. The training is also ideal for puppies because the methods accelerate their learning curve in the first four to six months of life.

dog field trips

Seven dogs embarked on a journey to the Makapuu Lighthouse recently. Like many people, the dogs appreciated being in the great outdoors, enjoying the sights and lush surroundings. But first they needed to settle down a bit.

"Things are a little chaotic at first, even if the dogs know each other," according Erin Gerwig, owner of Dogwalker, etc.

"They all want to sniff, they have to say hello. And, everyone needs to use the bathroom right when we get out of the car," she said. "It's like having a bunch of 3-year-olds running around."

Once they settle down, though, they enjoy the ambiance and socializing.

Gerwig said the idea of the field trips came from her regular dog-walking routine -- she normally takes several dogs at the same time, from three or four different households. Other dogs walking with their owners would often stop to mingle with her group, she said.

"I saw how much more happy they were -- they love to socialize. They are pack animals and really enjoy the company of other animals. It's great to watch them interact with each other."

Everyone can use an ICKY -- especially young drivers

Are you wondering yet about this word, ICKY? Actually, it is an acronym that comes from an article I read in Reader's Digest years ago. The writer recounted that when his daughter reached driving age, his concern was overwhelming. His confidence in trusting her on the road, behind the wheel, in control of a two-ton monster was near nil. So he read up in journals, checked statistics, talked to police and, in the end, came to the conclusion that most motor vehicle accidents involving teenagers resulted from impatience.

He couldn't deal with all the teens on the road, he reasoned, but he could influence one of them. His daughter wanted to learn how to drive? OK, he would teach her. But first he went out and bought a very small stuffed animal that he presented to her at the beginning of their first foray.

"This," he told her as he placed it in her hand, "is your ICKY. You are to have it in the car whenever you drive somewhere. Before you even start the engine, you must reach out and touch your ICKY." She must promise this, he admonished, or she wouldn't have his permission to get her license.

He looked at her. She looked at him. He waited for her to say she agreed. She was waiting for him to explain what this ICKY business was. There was silence until she finally asked, "Why an ICKY?"

Suddenly, he realized that this whole idea was in his head; it meant nothing to her, and so he explained.

"Your ICKY is your personal reminder that Impatience Can Kill You. You may change its name to something more cool or more clever, but it's your ICKY."

She looked from her father to the ICKY to her father and said, "ICKY. That's clever. Cool, Daddy." She smiled, then reached over and deposited the icon in a place of prominence on the dashboard and touched it with her finger. The first driving lesson had begun.

The Code

skk444 passes along The Code.

The Bridge ~ Step 29 ~ The Code

Welcome to The Code. Here at last is a Code of Conduct that transcends all social, religious, scientific, and political beliefs while bridging the gap between the mainstream and the miraculous. After many years of working with intentionality and listening to thousands of people state their Intentions in our Intenders Circles, we have taken the best of what we have heard and developed The Code. The Code is specifically designed to empower you so that you can bring fulfillment into your personal life while, at the same time, create a better world for all of us to live in.

To apply The Code, all you have to do is say it once a day.


The First Intent ~ Support Life
We refrain from opposing or harming anyone. We allow others to have their own experiences. We see life in all things and honor it as if it was our own. We support life.

The Second Intent ~ Seek Truth
We follow our inner compass and discard any benefits that are no longer serving us. We go to the source. We seek truth.

The Third Intent ~ Set Our Course
We beggin the creative process. We give direction to our life. We set our course.

The Fourth Intent ~ Simplify
We let go so there is room for something better to come in. We intent that we are guided, guarded, protected, and line up with Highest Good at all times. We trust and remain open to receive from both expected and unexpected sources. We simplify.

The Fifth Intent ~ Stay Positive
We see good, say good and do good. We accept the gifts from all of our experiences. We are living in grace and gratitude. We stay positive.

The Sixth Intent ~ Sychronize
After intending and surrentering, we take action by following the opportunities that are presented to us. We are in the flow where Great Mystery and Miracles abide, fullfilling our desires and doing what we came here to do. We synchronize.

The Seventh Intent ~ Serve 'Others'
We practice love in action. We always have enough to spare and enough to share. We are available to help those who need it. We serve 'others'

The Eighth Inthent ~ Shine Our Light
We all are magnificent beings, awakening to our highest potential,
We express ourselves with joy, smile easily and laugh often. We Shine our light.

The Ninth Intent ~ Share Our Vision
We create our ideal world by envisioning it and telling others about it.
We share Our Vision.

The Tenth Intent ~ Synergize
We see Humanity as One. We enjoy gathering with light-hearted people regularly.
When we come together, we set the stage for Great Oneness to reveal itself.
We synergize.

Akiane

Child prodigy describes God in her painting. [via skk444@TheGreatSecret, 1/25/07]

it's good for my heart

CHICAGO -- Office nappers now have the perfect excuse: New research shows that a little midday snooze seems to reduce the risk of fatal heart problems, especially among men.

In the largest study to date on the health effects of napping, researchers tracked 23,681 healthy Greek adults for an average of about six years. Those who napped for about half an hour at least three times weekly had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart attacks or other heart problems than those who did not nap.

The U.S. Roots Of Islamic Terrorism

It’s been said that Americans learn their geography by fighting wars. Otherwise we remain oblivious to most of the rest of the world. The same could be said of our education in the world’s religions.

Thus the importance of Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Alfred A. Knopf, $27.95), a scrupulously researched and well-written account of the rise of radical Islam in the Middle East. It is the story of a movement; but it is also the story of men, Arab and American, and bureaucracies, the CIA and the FBI, that could not communicate with one another.

It begins, brilliantly, with an official of the Egyptian Ministry of Education, who would become much, much more.

Finding Sandalwood Mountain

THE DOCUMENTARY film "Finding Sandalwood Mountain: The Chinese Migration to Hawaii" started simply enough with the desire of producers Greg and Fawn Andermann to learn more about the Chinese experience in Hawaii. Over four years the project took on a life of its own, such that the couple now views it as a catalyst for encouraging understanding between the United States and China, and changing the world, for the better.

American diet unhealthy for Okinawans

TOKYO -- Tomomi Inose is overweight and diabetic. Her poor health is a result of six decades of U.S. influence on Okinawa. Until a generation ago, residents of Japan's southern island were among the world's longest-lived.

Growing up in postwar Okinawa alongside the U.S. military's largest overseas bases, she developed a bigger appetite for hamburgers and sodas than for the fish and vegetables that sustained prior generations.

"My body instinctively craves for succulent meat," Inose, 46, said at the hospital where her blood-sugar level is tested monthly to monitor the type 2 diabetes that has impaired her vision and increased her risk of heart disease.

The island that boasts more centenarians per capita than anywhere else now has the highest prevalence of obesity in Japan, and life expectancy is falling rapidly.

Sleep Posture

Do you ever wake up in the morning with a stiff neck, back pain and/or a headache? Well, it may be because of your sleeping posture.

According to chiropractor Chip Abbadessa of Kaneohe Family Chiropractic, the best sleeping position is on your back.

“The correct position to sleep in is on your back, side is your next best, and stomach is the worst,” says Abbadessa. “If you’re a stomach sleeper, it can be damaging your spine and nervous system. It’s the worst position to be in because it turns your head in an extreme rotation and it puts your head back in extension.

The Compact

[1/12/07] What would it be like, 10 environmentally conscious friends wondered as they discussed the sorry state of the planet, to go a year without buying anything new?

[1/9/07] The Compact -- an ever-growing group who have vowed not to buy anything new except food, medicine and underwear -- is going strong on its first anniversary.