paying it forward

[8/21/14]  A woman started an act of kindness chain that lasted for hours at a Starbucks drive-thru in Florida.

She ordered an iced coffee around 7 a.m. Wednesday in St. Petersburg and asked to pay for the caramel macchiato for the stranger in the car behind her. He returned the favor. The chain kept going as employees began keeping count.

The Tampa Bay Times reports the chain finally ended around 6 p.m. when customer number 379 pulled up and ordered a regular coffee. Barista Vu Nguyen leaned out the window and explained the chain that started earlier in the day, asking if she'd like to participate. She declined, saying she only wanted to pay for her coffee.

Nguyen says he doesn't believe she understood the concept of paying it forward.

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Aloha Pamela,

I waited in a six-car-long drive-through line at the Pearl City Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. When I reached the window to pay for my drink, I was told by the friendly employee that my drink had been paid for by the lady in front of me! So, of course, I paid for the girl behind me! The week had been a pretty rough one, and something this amazing could not have happened at a more perfect time! I think we all try our best to do at least one good deed a day, though sometimes we can’t help but wonder if anyone else makes the same efforts. Your Applause column is an amazing bearer of great news and great people right here at home. I love it!

Jimell Silva
Pearl City

Dear Pamela,
My son, his friend and I had dinner at Denny’s in Royal Kunia. A pair of military men walked in after us, and we decided to thank them anonymously for their service to our country by treating them to their dinner. After we paid for their meals, we noticed that as they were leaving, they stopped at the cashier and paid her, too. We asked our waitress to check on it, and she returned to tell us that the military men were grateful to have received our thanks, then anonymously paid for another family’s meal! Wow. It was a chicken-skin moment for me, and a great example for my teenage son and his friend. Mahalo to all our military personnel.

Leimomi Wang
Royal Kunia

Dear Jimell and Lei,
Mahalo for reminding us of how good will takes on a life of its own. Paying it forward can be so rewarding, whether you do it with a monetary gesture or a simple act of kindness.

-- via roy, 4/25/13

Don Pardo

NEW YORK (AP) — Don Pardo, the durable television and radio announcer whose booming baritone became as much a part of the cultural landscape as the shows and products he touted, died Monday in Arizona. He was 96.

Pardo died at his home in Tucson, where he moved after retiring from "Saturday Night Live," said his daughter, Dona Pardo. "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels asked him to continue with the show, so he flew back and forth to New York for many years. In recent years, he recorded his introductions from his Tucson home.

Few recognized the face of Pardo, a handsome man with a strong chin and confident smile. But Pardo's majestic delivery, with its swoops in pitch and pregnant pauses, graced newscasts, game shows and TV programs for more than 60 years. During the original version of "Jeopardy!," his answers to the question, "Tell 'em what they've won, Don Pardo," became a memorable part of the program.


And he was an integral part of "Saturday Night Live" for almost four decades in his role heralding the cast's names to kick off each show, which led former cast member Jimmy Fallon to comment later, "Nothing is like the moment when Don Pardo says your name." He continued at "SNL" through the end of last season, when he performed the introductions on the finale in May.

the ice bucket challenge

You've probably seen a good number of photos this week of the rich and famous dumping buckets of ice water over their heads. Here's why.

Everyone you've seen is participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge. The challenge involves daring a person to dump a bucket of ice water over their head within the next 24 hours, or else donate money — usually $100 — toward fighting ALS. Even if a person completes the challenge, they're more than welcome to donate money too.

Once a person completes the challenge, they're also supposed to dare several other people — usually three — to participate, which is why the challenge has been growing and growing.

The ALS Association says that Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball player, began the Ice Bucket Challenge — and he's being widely credited for kicking it off. Frates is 29 and has been living with ALS since 2012. As Slate notes, however, it's not entirely accurate to credit Frates with beginning the challenge. Several people actually took the challenge before Frates, at which point they were only supposed to donate to a charity of their choice, rather than the ALS Association specifically. That said, the challenge has really become a phenomenon since Frates took the challenge at the end of last month.

A lot of people — and a lot of famous people too. The latest trend is for tech executives to take it on: we've seen Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Phil Schiller, and Dick Costolo in just the past day. But it's far more than that. Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Matt Lauer, Martha Stewart, and Chris Christie are among the others who have accepted, dunked themselves, and challenged others. President Obama has apparently declined to get soaked, and is instead making a donation.

***

Bill Gates answers the challenge.

vitamin essentials

WITH AN ALPHABET soup of vitamins on the market, it’s tough for consumers to determine their best vitamin regimen without hours of research. From B12 to E, vitamins are important for everyone’s health —though recommendations for pregnant women might differ from those for seniors.

To cut through the confusion, three top vitamin experts provide information on some of the vitamins most essential for health. A note: Recommended daily allowance (RDA) is established as the minimal amount to avoid disease.

Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is important for red cell and nerve cell development. The RDA for adults is about 3 micrograms (mcg), says Diane McKay, an assistant professor of nutrition science at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Because the only dietary sources of vitamin B12 are animal products, she says, vegetarians and vegans need to work harder to get an adequate dose. Similarly, adults age 50 and older produce less stomach acid, McKay says, and are therefore less able to absorb vitamin B12. Many multivitamins contain vitamin B12 and certain foods are fortified with it, but some older adults need vitamin B12 shots to prevent deficiency.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C performs double duty as both a vitamin and an antioxidant, says Dr. JoAnn Manson, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She adds that vitamin C is essential for preventing the nutritional deficiency scurvy, a rare disease that causes weakness and anemia. The RDA of vitamin C differs slightly for men (90 milligrams, or mg) and women (75 mg). It is included in some multivitamins, though Manson says most people can meet their daily requirement by eating five servings of vegetables and fruit, especially citrus,
each day.

Vitamin D
While bone health is its major function, vitamin D can also play critical roles in improving cardiovascular health and controlling cell growth, says Dr. Michael Holick, author and professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. “It’s basically important from the time you’re born until the time you die,” says Holick, a Costco member. Because very few dietary sources are high in vitamin D, he says sun exposure is the major source. He recommends safe sun exposure and a supplement to help adults reach the recommended daily allowance of 600 IUs.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E, which, like vitamin C, has antioxidant properties, plays a role in neutralizing free radicals in the body, Manson says. In combination with other vitamins, vitamin E may contribute to eye health and aid in the prevention of macular degeneration. With an RDA of about 15 mg per day, vitamin E is found in eggs, fortified cereals and some fruits and vegetables, as well as supplements.

Folate (folic acid)
Folate is the form of this essential vitamin that occurs naturally in food, McKay says, while folic acid is the term for the vitamin in supplements or fortified foods. Folic acid is important for everyone’s cell health, she says, though it’s particularly critical for pregnant women. During early pregnancy, she notes, folic acid aids in the creation of the baby’s nervous system. Without enough of this essential vitamin, the baby could develop a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida.

Green leafy vegetables are among the natural sources of folate, McKay says, and many refined grain products are also fortified with folic acid. The suggested daily allowance of folic acid is 400 mcg, she reports, and a multivitamin is typically recommended, especially for women of childbearing age. But older adults who eat many fortified foods, she adds, should be careful not to get too much folic acid. As with any diet or supplementation regimen, reminds Manson, it’s important to consult with a doctor before supplementing.

The Costco Connection, February 2014

prevent heart disease

THE REAL CAUSE of cardiovascular disease is not high cholesterol but rather arterial plaque. A healthy, young cardiovascular system has less of it. An unhealthy, old one has more. The thicker your arterial plaque, the older your cardiovascular system is.

But don’t worry—there are just four easy steps that will help you turn back the clock on aging and prevent heart disease, reducing your risk of a heart attack. In a nutshell:

1. Increase how much fiber you eat daily.

2. Optimize your aerobic fitness. The key is measuring your fitness and maximum heart rate, then planning to optimize your workout based upon your fitness and peak heart rate.

3. Look for specific heart-friendly nutrients such as fiber, fish oil, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K, potassium and zinc.

Proper intake of these nutrients has also been shown to predict arterial age.

4. Decrease body fat (this may happen naturally if you follow steps 1 to 3).

Address these four factors and you’ll be able to turn back the clock on aging and prevent heart disease even without medications. For instance, following steps 1 and 3, you incorporate five easy-to-remember categories of heart-healing foods. Look for:

• Fiber from vegetables, fruits, beans, oats and nuts

• Healthy fat from virgin olive oil, nuts, seafood and avocados

• Lean protein from wild seafood, free range poultry, omega-3 eggs, lean meats and beans

• Beneficial beverages such as pure water, tea, red wine, protein smoothies and cocoa made with nonfat dairy, soy or almond milk, preferably minimally sweetened

• Fabulous flavors from dark chocolate, herbs, spices and garlic

Studies show that 90 percent of heart disease can be prevented. Following these steps will help to prevent yours, and at the same time you’ll tune up your heart, energy, waistline and romantic life.

-- by Dr. Steven Masley, Costco Connection, February 2014

a history of movie dancing

With Step Up All In strutting into theaters this weekend, the Yahoo Movie Show looks back at the shaking, shimmying, spectacular history of movie dance. It’s a journey that takes us from the group-giddiness of Busby Berkeley’s musical numbers to the effortlessly agile moves of Fred Astaire to the dizzying dance-offs of today.

a chocolate a day

keeps the doctor away.

9 excuses to eat more chocolate

heavy metals in your body

Since going to Kekoa, I have found that heavy metals in your body is bad.

Two sources of heavy metals (in particular mercury) are from fish caught in the ocean who eat metal from waste-processing plants.  And amalgams (dental fillings).

What to do?  I don't really want to replace all my dental filling right now, since I just had most of them put in.
So here one things that might help: eat cilantro [via facebook]

Another article that mentions cilantro.

Here's a general article.

Robin Williams

Robin Williams, a comic and sitcom star in the 1970s who became an Oscar-winning dramatic actor, died Monday at 63 in Marin County. The Marin County Sheriff's Office said he appears to have committed suicide.

The news of the beloved actor’s death rocked the nation. Channels broke into their usual programming to make the announcement, and within minutes, he dominated online trending topics.

Williams was hailed as a comic genius was a star of both movies and television for more than three decades. But he also suffered from substance abuse problems.

The actor "has been battling severe depression of late," his publicist Mara Buxbaum said. "This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time."

Williams was found unresponsive at his home in Tiburon at around noon Monday, sheriff’s officials said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Dubbed “the funniest man alive” by Entertainment Weekly in 1997, Williams brought audiences hours of laughter, putting his imaginative spin on characters in film and television. He was lauded for his serious roles as well, winning a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as Sean Maguire, the therapist who counsels Matt Damon’s math genius in “Good Will Hunting” (1997), and receiving nominations for “The Fisher King” (1991), “Dead Poets Society” (1989) and “Good Morning, Vietnam” (1987).

Born in Chicago in 1951, Williams became one of only two students accepted into John Houseman’s prestigious acting program at Juilliard, the other being Christopher Reeve, who became a lifelong friend.

Williams gained fame as Mork, the bizarre, suspenders-sporting alien on the sitcom “Mork & Mindy,” a spinoff from “Happy Days.” Williams departed from the script so often that producers intentionally left blank moments on page for him to have space to indulge his ad-libbing genius.

***

Koko mourns. / Robin on Ellen

*** [8/13/14] Robin Williams to live on in World of Warcraft

*** [8/13/14] Yahoo looks back at Robin Williams

*** [8/14/14] Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's

*** [9/14/14] a drawing

religious numbers

I hate math. I don’t understand it. Math says A=πr2, but I know pies are round. The Trinity Doctrine tells me I must believe 3=1. Math says I can’t. Math says I need evidence and verifiable facts; religion says all I need is faith. Mathematics can prove the existence of imaginary numbers (√-1) and entities; religious followers need only to believe in them. Religion and math are thus in conflict, though there are those who try to nudge each into the other’s territory.

My UH colleagues in the math division claim mathematics offers a beauty, power and clarity all its own. So does religion. Religion and math make odd bedfellows, however, and blurring the boundaries between the two have produced strange offspring. Numerology — the belief that numbers are a code that, when deciphered, reveals deeper meaning — is an example.

Pythagoras (ca. 570 to ca. 490 BCE) was a great mathematician, and in fact had his own religious following. Thankfully there are no “Pythagoras Lives!” bumper stickers or silly decals like “PYTHAGORAS>i” on cars or T-shirts. Still, it seems Pythagoras, his followers and even others in different cultures believed numbers convey the real nature of things. If so, what insights do numbers provide?

Here’s a brief and terribly incomplete list of what some numbers symbolize:

1) One truth (Dharma), one God (Allah), one reality (Dao).

2) Duality (good/evil), contrast (yin/yang), tension (dharma/maya).

3) Encompasses beginning, middle and end. Various religions have triads (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity).

4) Good in western religions, symbolizing totality and togetherness (directions, seasons, Gospels). Bad in East-Asian religions, as it is homonymic with the word for “death” in Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages. As a result many hospitals, hotels and apartments will not have a fourth floor.

5) There are lots of fives (five elements in Daoism, five precepts in Buddhism, etc.) and 10s (10 gurus in Sikhism, 10 avatars in Hinduism, etc.) in religion.

Pythagoras thought 10 was the number of perfection. Indeed, because of his influence, we are accustomed to the idea of a scale from one to 10.

In antiquity, most people were illiterate. The fingers on hands probably functioned as a mnemonic device to help people remember teachings or practices — not coincidentally, there are two sets of five Pillars in Islam, and there are 10 Commandments. Read the lists carefully (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5) and you’ll notice there are actually more than 10, but we don’t have enough digits on our hands for them. (This didn’t stop me. Being a boy had its advantages — I could count to 11.)

6) One of the most feared numbers of all is 666. The Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible states 666 is the number of the beast, and throughout history, trying to decipher whom the number is referring to has fascinated people. From the scholarly point of view, the number 666 refers to Nero Caesar, the Roman emperor who ruthlessly persecuted Christians in the first century. In Hebrew, letters were assigned numerical value. If the Greek spelling of Nero Caesar is transliterated into Hebrew (nrwn qsr), the numerical equivalent is 666. (nrwn qsr: 50+200+6+50+100+60+200) Despite what scholars think, many still insist 666 is the numerical value of mother-in-law.

7) Seven symbolizes completion or perfection: seven gods of good luck in Japan; the baby Buddha took seven steps at birth and declared himself free from samsara; Muslims throw 49 stones at Satan; seven days of creation; Shavuot follows 49 days after Passover. In Hinduism, a wedding ritual is not complete until the bride and groom take seven steps around a sacred fire and recite seven vows to seal their marriage.

8) The Chinese love the number 8. It is common to see car license plates with lots of 8s. Eight is the highest single-digit yin number (odd numbers are yang) and part of its power comes from its homonymic quality in Cantonese. The word for eight is bat, which sounds like the word for luck and prosperity — fat/fut (as in Gung Hee Fat Choy). 8FATFAT8 does not refer to a bar for big people. The Beijing Olympics officially began eight minutes after 8 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month in the year 2008.

9) In a base 10 system, nine is the final number, thus it symbolizes the highest attainment: 99 names of Allah, cloud 9, nine lives. In Chinese religions, 9 is the highest single-digit yang number and is homonymic with longevity in Cantonese. It is therefore good luck to give newly married couples monetary gifts that end in 9.
Religion is bizarre and wonderful enough without help from mathematics. But some believe blending the two provides order and meaning to our lives, and gives us access to the gods. In the end, the answers to the square root of -1 in mathematics, the number of gods that exist in religion and the value numerology has for our lives may all be the same number.


One more number: This is the 13th installment of this column. Enough said.

-- Jay Sakashita, Midweek, July 30, 2014

long-term care

If you've helped an elderly friend or relative find and figure out how to pay for long-term care, or you've done so yourself, you likely confronted a bewildering maze of unfamiliar terms as well as extreme financial complexity.

Get familiar with the various types of care, as well as the financial ramifications, before you actually need to put the information to use. In last week's article, I provided 50 statistics to assist with the decision about whether to purchase long-term care insurance. This week's article explains the key terms and variables that consumers should be aware of when navigating long-term care.

different values and allies

It's come to this.

Russia is turning to Twitter to drop a sissy bomb on President Obama, using photos to challenge the manliness of America's commander in chief, while pumping up their main man, President Vladimir Putin.

The post by Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin included side-by-side images of the two presidents. In one, Putin is confidently holding a majestic leopard. In the other, a notably younger Obama is holding a small, fluffy dog.

The caption: "We have different values and allies."


Burn.

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The above was from FoxNews?  And what's the deal with the inserted picture of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog?

8 uses for Windex

Forget everything you knew about Windex. It’s not just for cleaning those fingerprints all over your windows!

[via facebook, see comments]

OK, I'll try it on my toilet seat and let you know.  Actually I don't have Windex, but I have a generic glass cleaner.  Same thing(?)

OK, I got the Springfield glass bright.  Probably bought from Wal-Mart or Longs or someplace.  Tried it on the toilet seat.  Don't see much results.  OK, let's try the bathroom sink.  Not much results there either.  But it works pretty good on the mirror..   Yeah, sounded too good to be true.