Beatles for free

ACT NATURALLY IF you can. The Beatles catalog will be available for streaming any time at all as of midnight tonight local time wherever you are, even back in the USSR. Christmas time (is here again)!

While Beatles music has previously made sporadic appearances on Pandora, this will be the first time it’s been available for streaming across the universe of on-demand music apps. Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Rhapsody, Slacker, Tidal, Deezer, and Microsoft Groove have come together, all together now, to offer Beatles tracks, whereas before you could find them practically nowhere, man.

To listen, all you need is love of classic Lennon and McCartney tunes. Well, okay, it’s not free as a bird; you do need a ticket to ride, but who doesn’t subscribe to at least one of those services by this point?

Actually, in fairness, access to the Beatles catalog might prompt a new sign-up revolution. After all, there hasn’t been a rock and roll music band this popular in my life—not even that lady, Madonna. If you need help! deciding whether you should enlist, go ahead and ask me why. I want to hold your hand through a day in the life of streaming the Beatles.

“Good day sunshine,” I’ll shout after a hard day’s night of dreaming about the vibrant harmonies of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I’ll fire up Spotify or Google Music, type in the name of my favorite Beatles album, and get back some of the best music of the last century. From there I’ll let it be; putting the Beatles on shuffle seems wrong somehow. All things must pass in the order they intended. If I had Android Auto or CarPlay, I could drive my car and listen, too.

The Beatles back catalog is extensive enough that it could fill eight days a week, so you’ll have to be selective. But we can work it out! In fact, forget “we,” you know what to do: design your own magical mystery tour of music classics.

The timing’s also auspicious for those in search of a last-minute Christmas gift; you can’t buy me love, but you can buy me a Spotify subscription (or at least let me borrow your password). I mean, that’ll be the day—we don’t even know each other.

The only open question is whether a launch this prominent will cause any services to falter under the weight of streamers (hello, goodbye!). Don’t let me down, Spotify; I’ve been burned by HBO Go one too many times.

It’ll probably be fine. Besides, the important thing is that yesterday, you couldn’t stream Beatles songs on-demand. Tonight, I am the walrus you can.

Big Soda

A Coke-funded group at the University of Colorado that was supposed to study the impact of obesity — the Global Energy Balance Network — shut down unexpectedly late Monday, months after the group came under fire for blaming the nation’s growing waistline on lack of exercise — not sugary drinks.

Coke cut financial ties with the group and GEBN said on its website it ceased operations because of “resource limitations.”

Coca-Cola, which employs about 8,900 metro Atlantans in its hometown, declined to comment Tuesday.

“Like ‘big tobacco,’ ‘big soda’s’ true intentions have been unveiled by this effort to manipulate the science,” said Jim O’Hara, director of health promotion policy for the health advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. “The real issue was not just about transparency, but scientific integrity.”

how to calm a crying baby

Dr. Hamilton has handled a lot of babies at his practice and has a tried and true technique for calming a crying baby that he uses to quiet infants during office visits. “Parents have learned it and have experienced great success at home,” he says in the video description, before demonstrating the four simple steps.

First, pick up the baby. Then:

1. Fold across the chest.
2. Secure arms gently.
3. Grasp diaper area.
4. Rock at a 45 degree angle. Gently shake their booty and rock them up and down.

Dr. Hamilton says this will work for the first 2 to 3 months after which the baby will probably get too heavy. If your baby doesn’t stop crying it could be that your baby is hungry or possibly not feeling well.

the cost of dementia

Three diseases, leading killers of Americans, often involve long periods of decline before death. Two of them — heart disease and cancer — usually require expensive drugs, surgeries and hospitalizations. The third, dementia, has no effective treatments to slow its course.

So when a group of researchers asked which of these diseases involved the greatest health care costs in the last five years of life, the answer they found might seem surprising. The most expensive, by far, was dementia.

The study looked at patients on Medicare. The average total cost of care for a person with dementia over those five years was $287,038. For a patient who died of heart disease it was $175,136. For a cancer patient it was $173,383. Medicare paid almost the same amount for patients with each of those diseases — close to $100,000 — but dementia patients had many more expenses that were not covered.

On average, the out-of-pocket cost for a patient with dementia was $61,522 — more than 80 percent higher than the cost for someone with heart disease or cancer. The reason is that dementia patients need caregivers to watch them, help with basic activities like eating, dressing and bathing, and provide constant supervision to make sure they do not wander off or harm themselves. None of those costs were covered by Medicare.

For many families, the cost of caring for a dementia patient often “consumed almost their entire household wealth,” said Dr. Amy S. Kelley, a geriatrician at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York and the lead author of the paper published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

“It’s stunning that people who start out with the least end up with even less,” said Dr. Kenneth Covinsky, a geriatrician at the University of California in San Francisco. “It’s scary. And they haven’t even counted some of the costs, like the daughter who gave up time from work and is losing part of her retirement and her children’s college fund.”

Dr. Diane E. Meier, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai Hospital, said most families are unprepared for the financial burden of dementia, assuming Medicare will pick up most costs.

“What patients and their families don’t realize is that they are on their own,” Dr. Meier said.

To obtain cost estimates, Dr. Kelley and her colleagues used data from the Health and Retirement Survey, a federally funded study that conducts detailed interviews every two years with a nationally representative sample of older people, getting an average response rate of 86 percent. It collects data on participants’ incomes, health and needs for care. It includes data on subjects’ cognitive functioning and the likelihood that they are demented, and on their total out-of-pocket spending.

The survey links to the Medicare database, which provides data on participants’ total medical costs, and to the National Death Index. After people die, their families are questioned again about health care spending, including spending on nursing homes and home health care. To estimate the costs of unpaid care — a daughter who leaves her job to care for a mother with Alzheimer’s disease, for example — the researchers used $20 an hour, the average for a home health care aide.

The reason for the big disparities in out-of-pocket costs for the three diseases, Dr. Kelley said, is that Medicare covers discrete medical services like office visits and acute care such as hospitalization and surgery. Expenses for cancer patients and heart patients tend to be of that sort. They often do not need full-time home or nursing home care until the very end of their life, if at all, so do not have that continuing cost. Dementia patients, in contrast, need constant care for years. They may not be sick enough for a nursing home but cannot be left alone.

When they are sick enough for a nursing home, that cost is not covered by health insurance. More than half of patients with dementia — and three-quarters of those from racial minorities — spend down, using savings to pay for the nursing home until nothing is left. Then Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people, takes over.

Toto washlet

Last year, Bennett Friedman, who owns a plumbing showroom in Manhattan called AF New York, took a business trip to Milan. On the morning of his return he faced a choice: stop in the bathroom there or wait until he got home.  He waited.

The move seems almost masochistic. But in his home and office bathrooms, Mr. Friedman had installed a Toto washlet. To sit upon a standard commode, he said, would be like “going back to the Stone Age.”

“It feels very uncivilized,” he said.

For those who own Japanese toilets, there is a cultish devotion. They boast heated seats, a bidet function for a rear cleanse and an air-purifying system that deodorizes during use. The need for toilet paper is virtually eliminated (there is an air dryer) and “you left the lid up” squabbles need never take place (the seat lifts and closes automatically in many models).

Jean Z. Poh, founder of the luxury jewelry e-commerce site Swoonery.com, said a washlet is, in its own way, a luxury item.

old-time funk

When Michael Binder saw the mega viral hit that featured a bunch of dance scenes from popular movies matched up to the incredibly popular song, “Uptown Funk,” he was instantly inspired to do a similar mashup, only he wanted to use dance scenes from movies that only came out of the Golden Age of cinema.

It’s pretty amazing to watch legends like, Gene Kelly, Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, and Fred Astaire dance to one of the catchiest songs ever!

The amount of time it must have taken to edit this whole piece together is truly astounding. Not only did Binder have to be aware of the dance sequence in his head, but he had to time it properly with the music without speeding up or slowing down the original footage.

In the end he created a video that is really fun to watch. He really put a lot of thought into this whole project, and just about everyone loves the final result!

successful people / unsuccessful people

9gag.com (via facebook)

15 habits

 THAT WILL TOTALLY TRANSFORM YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

1. Declutter your desk.
MESSY WORK SPACE:
Creativity may arise from chaos, but a litter-strewn office probably isn’t helping you get stuff done. "Attention is programmed to pick up what’s novel," says Josh Davis, director of research at the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Two Awesome Hours. Visible files remind you of unfinished tasks. An unread book is temptation for procrastination. Even if you don’t think you’re noticing the disorder, it hurts your ability to focus.

8. Sleep on the job.
It might be tough to convince your boss, but researchers from the University of Michigan found that taking a daytime nap counteracts impulsive behavior and boosts tolerance for frustration. The findings also suggest that workplace dozers could be more productive.

[I guess I'll concentrate on those two.]

[via facebook]

Bezos no. 3 in America

A 10% bump in Amazon's stock price in after-hours trading following a positive earnings report Thursday made a lot of people a little richer — and CEO Jeff Bezos a whole lot richer.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, the leap in Bezos' Amazon stock increased his fortune by almost $5 billion Thursday evening, making him the third-wealthiest person in the United States and the fifth world wide.

At the beginning of the year he was only the 13th wealthiest American, according to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg put Bezos' current net worth at $55 billion. That leaves only Bill Gates, with $83.9 billion and Warren Buffett, with $64.5 billion, ahead of him.


The stock move pushed the Koch brothers, Charles and David, to fourth and fifth place.

Andy Kauffman and Redd Foxx on tour

As comedians, Redd Foxx and Andy Kaufman could hardly be more different. Foxx, the pioneering nightclub performer and star of “Sanford & Son,” who died in 1991, was candid, socially conscious and unapologetically obscene. Kaufman, the standup, sometime wrestler and “Taxi” co-star who died in 1984, was experimental, obtuse, playful and perplexing.

But now these two comics will be united in a most unlikely way: both are being turned into holograms to perform and tour again.

On Friday, Hologram USA, a technology company that specializes in these visual recreations of celebrities, plans to announce that it will use the likenesses of Kaufman and Foxx and parts of their previously recorded routines to create hologram shows that will be presented across the country next year.

“They’re comedy icons,” said Alki David, the founder and chief executive of Hologram USA. “Both of them influenced so many comedians after them.”

Mr. David, a billionaire entrepreneur, said in an interview that while the company is “working with other estates of famous funny guys and funny girls, these just happened to be amenable estates who see the vision.”

Foxx, who released more than 50 albums of his material, was among the first black comedians to find popularity with white audiences and to star in his own network sitcom.

Kaufman was a prankish provocateur and frequent guest of David Letterman’s “Late Night” program. He was the subject of the 1999 biographical film “Man on the Moon,” in which he was played by Jim Carrey. (He also appeared on Mr. Foxx’s short-lived ABC variety show in 1977.)

Michael Kaufman, the comedian’s brother and a representative of his estate, said in an interview that the hologram show was “the right platform for the new generation of audiences to experience Andy.”

In Andy Kaufman’s heyday, when he was picking fights on live television or feuding with the wrestler Jerry Lawler, Michael Kaufman said, such incidents “made it to the newspapers — that’s as much as you could do back then, as far as hoopla.”

If his brother were getting up to the same antics today, Mr. Kaufman added, “I think it would have busted the Internet. This keeps him alive.”

Mr. David said that the hologram shows featuring these comedians would include some of their best-known material — say, Andy Kaufman lip-syncing the “Mighty Mouse” theme on the debut episode of “Saturday Night Live” — as well as narrative segments that dramatize biographical details.

Noting that Malcolm X had known Foxx before his stand-up fame and described him as “the funniest dishwasher on this earth,” Mr. David said, “We’re going to have a scene with Malcolm X. We’re going to have various notable names featuring in his story.”

$750 or $1?

TRENTON, N.J. –  Stepping into the furor over eye-popping price spikes for old generic medicines, a maker of compounded drugs will begin selling $1 doses of Daraprim, whose price recently was jacked up to $750 per pill by Turing Pharmaceuticals.

San Diego-based Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc., which mixes approved drug ingredients to fill individual patient prescriptions, said Thursday it will supply capsules containing Daraprim's active ingredients, pyrimethamine and leucovorin, for $99 for a 100-capsule bottle, via its site: www.imprimiscares.com.
The 3 1/2-year-old drug compounding firm also plans to start making inexpensive versions of other generic drugs whose prices have skyrocketed, Chief Executive Mark Baum told The Associated Press.

"We are looking at all of these cases where the sole-source generic companies are jacking the price way up," Baum said in an interview. "There'll be many more of these" compounded drugs coming in the near future.
The high price of prescription medicines in the U.S. — from drugs for cancer and rare diseases that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year down to once-cheap generic drugs now costing many times their old price — has become a hot issue in the 2016 presidential race.

News that Turing, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and other drugmakers have bought rights to old, cheap medicines that are the only treatment for serious diseases and then hiked prices severalfold has angered patients. It's triggered government investigations, politicians' proposals to fight "price gouging," heavy media scrutiny and a big slump in biotech stock prices.

At the eye of the storm is former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, head of Turing Pharmaceuticals, scorned last month for buying rights to and then increasing by more than 5,000 percent the price of Daraprim, a 62-year old drug with no competition. The startup drugmaker paid Impax Laboratories $55 million in August for rights to Daraprim, which treats a rare parasitic infection called toxoplasmosis that mainly strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients.


“This product is now affordable to make. We can make it and turn a profit and we can take some of that profit and put it back into research for this disease,” Shkreli told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo on Friday, adding that 60 percent of the drug is sold for $1.

how to use a refrigerator

Sharon Profis shares a few refrigerator organization tips everyone should know.

have a cold one

So much for the idea that a cold one kills brain cells: A new analysis of 32 different studies published in the journal PLOS One found that beer was associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. The research concluded that people who consumed one or more beers per day—but drank only beer, not wine or liquor as well—had a 59% lower risk of this neurodegenerative disease than non-alcohol drinkers. (By contrast, people who drank only liquor and had one or more drinks a day had more than twice the risk of developing Parkinson's compared to teetotalers.)

The good news for beer lovers doesn't end there: Other new research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that xanthohumol—a potent antioxidant found in hops that has anticancer and cardiovascular protective benefits—also protects rat brain cells from the type of damage linked to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The rats got an amount that was equivalent to drinking one beer a day.

breaking the stress cycle

STRESS IS MAKING us sick. Common medical problems that are affected by stress include heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, depression, headaches, gastrointestinal problems and asthma. “Stress doesn’t only make us feel awful emotionally,” says Dr. Jay Winner, founder and director of the Stress Reduction Program for the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, California. “It can also exacerbate just about any health condition you can think of.”

Stress actually increases the rate at which our cells grow old, making us more prone to age-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. In fact, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2004) showed that telomeres—part of the chromosome that protects genetic data—in the cells of chronically stressed women had the equivalent of an additional decade of aging.

Breaking the stress cycle

Often we don’t deal with stress until it’s overwhelming. But if you learn strategies to identify and handle stress right away, you’ll feel better faster and improve your health. “By learning to recognize the thoughts and feelings of stress early,” says Winner, “you can break the stress cycle before it starts.” The following practices can help.

Accept the way things are. Mindfulness means focusing on the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. Instead of complaining and wishing this moment were different, pay attention to your breath going in and out, and experience the now. “Thoughts will come and go, but you don’t need to resist or believe them,” says Winner. “Most thoughts are just opinions.”

Assume the superhero stance. Researchers at the Harvard Business School found that the levels of the stress hormone cortisol fell sharply when students adopted a Wonder Woman—arms akimbo—“power pose” for just two minutes. Participants indicated that they also felt more confident. “The power pose changed body chemistry in measurable ways,” says Christine Carter, author of The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work (Ballantine Books, 2015).

Look up. “When your mind is feeling cluttered, overwhelmed or exhausted, head outside for some fresh air,” says Larissa Hall Carlson, the dean of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. “Just a few minutes of sky gazing can provide the mind with the space it needs to refresh and reset.” Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down for a few minutes, and look up.

Massage your ears. “It stimulates the same stress-reducing energy points used in acupuncture,” says Carlson. Just close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Now firmly rub, tug and massage your ears for one to three minutes, and relax your jaw and shoulders.

Practice gratitude. “It helps you cultivate a positive attitude and puts the brakes on the fight-or-flight response,” says Carter. Count the things that you feel grateful for, write them down in a journal or on your calendar, or visit happier.com and download the app.

Set limits on technology. With the advent of the smartphone, we can stay busy, and stressed, all the time. “Research shows that people who checked their email 15 or more times a day and reduced it to three or five found that their overall tension and stress levels went down dramatically,” says Carter, a Costco member.

Take a break. “We see busyness as a sign of productivity and rest as a sign of laziness,” says Carter. “But downtime actually eases the sense of being overwhelmed. It also gives the brain time to make connections that provide insights, encourage creativity and help you find solutions.” Ultimately, helping you to work more easily with less stress.

Walk it off. Feeling frazzled? “Step outside and take a refreshing walk,” says Carlson. “Research shows that walking can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, and it supports bone health, improves cognitive function and enhances mental well-being.”

-- The Costco Connection, June 2015

slow down, you move too fast

There’s little doubt that technology over the last two centuries has made most work easier, but the more recent introduction of smartphones and tablets, in particular, has rendered the term “o ff the clock” nearly obsolete. However, unstructured downtime is often when we do our best creative thinking.

“At every red light you [can] look over and people are checking their email or texting somebody,” says sociologist and Costco member Christine Carter (christinecarter.com). “Th ere is no such thing anymore as just waiting, just staring into space.”

Carter, an author and senior fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, is eager to let everyone know that “if you want to be highly productive and effi cient, then there are ways to do that and it does not involve working all the time. It involves taking a lot of breaks.”

Journalist Carl Honoré, who wrote In Praise of Slowness (HarperOne, 2004)—which examines the bene fits of infusing every aspect of our lives with slowness—o ffers insight into why people stick with overloaded schedules.

Honoré tells Th e Connection, “The world is this huge buff et of things to do, and the natural human instinct is to want to have it all. [However], if you try to have it all, you will end up hurrying it all.”

Another reason, he says, is that slow “is a four-letter word that’s a byword for lazy, stupid, unproductive, boring—all the things that nobody wants to be. And because of that taboo, even when people can feel in their bones that it will be good to put on the brakes, or they yearn to slow down, they don’t do it because they feel afraid, they feel guilty, they feel shame.”

The last reason Honoré (carlhonore.com) cites is the physical nature of stress addiction. “A high-speed lifestyle is like a drug; it’s where we’re in fight-or-flight mode. It changes the chemistry of the body and the brain,” he says, addressing how people become stress junkies.

Honoré, who lives in fast-paced London, is the rst to admit that the Slow Movement isn’t about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about doing things at the right pace. “I call it slow; other people might call it flow,” he says. “You’re fully immersed in the moment and you’re at one, almost, with the act of the task itself.”

That flow is what Carter refers to as the sweet spot, which she describes as the intersection of strength and ease where a person feels the most relaxed and the most productive. In addition to strategically saying no and refraining from multitasking, Carter encourages people to take an occasional recess to help find that sweet spot.

She says that, for her, feeling overwhelmed is the signal to step away from what she’s doing, give herself 10 to 15 minutes to get outside, leaf through a magazine or just stare into space.

“To everybody else it looks like I am not working very hard; to me it’s a strategy for getting [everything] done,” she says, adding that most people are skeptical about how taking breaks can help with work. “ e irony is that the best way to get your head in the game is to actually fully take it out of the game.”

Slow start

Because it’s difficult to envision slowing down without falling behind, Honoré encourages people to start small. (See “Slow down, live better” on page 34 for more tips on adding slowness to your day.)

“It can be as simple as the next time you make yourself a sandwich at home alone … set the table with cutlery, plates and a glass of water, and just sit there and eat it rather than trying to do something else at the same time,” he suggests.

Whether it’s a sandwich moment, getting away from your desk or turning off gadgets for an hour each day, each act is a step in the right direction. “It’s moments of silence … that can start to open up all kinds of doors. You’ll get, ironically, the fast payoff of the enjoyment, the recharging, the replenishing of having a slow moment,” Honoré says. He adds that most people don’t apply it to just one aspect of their lives; it starts seeping into all areas until it becomes a state of mind.

“If you’re going to make the most of your life, then you have to have the time, the attention, the energy to invest in what’s happening right here, right now,” he notes. “You can never do that if you’re overburdened, if you’re overscheduled, if you’re doing too many things.”

He continues: “I think what’s o en missing is that real, deep living. And it’s when we slow down and we’re fully engaged when we’re doing things, that we remember them. And so much about a life well-lived is memory.” 

***

Slow down, live better

CARL HONORÉ, who coined the phrase “Slow Movement,” has the following tips to add a little slowness to your life.

Breathe. Slow, deep breathing reoxygenates the body, which slows the heartbeat and stabilizes blood pressure. When you feel panicky, stop for a moment and take a few deep breaths.

Speed audit. Stop and ask yourself if you’re doing whatever you’re doing too fast. If you are going faster than you need to when you do the audit, go back to the task and work more slowly.

Downsize your calendar. Look at your schedule for the next week, pick the least important scheduled activity and drop it. This will take some of the heat out of that particular day.

Schedule unscheduled time. Block off two hours in your week when you don’t plan anything in advance. This will guarantee you some time when you can slow down to your own rhythm.

Find a slow ritual. Find a slow ritual that acts as your personal brake and helps you shift into a lower gear. It might be gardening, reading, yoga, cooking, knitting, painting, whatever.—SEP

-- Costco Connection, June 2015

Wayne Dyer

Wayne Dyer, an author turned his 1976 best-seller "Your Erroneous Zones" into a self-help empire, died Saturday in Maui, Hawaii, his publisher and family reported via Facebook. He was 75.

The cause of death was not disclosed.

In 2009, Dyer was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia but he claimed to have treated the disease with positive thinking, daily workouts and "psychic surgery" by the Brazilian spiritualist João Teixeira de Faria.

Dyer, a psychotherapist and former professor at St. John's University in New York, was a friend and frequent guest of Oprah Winfrey, appearing on her show many times over the years.

The former daily talk-show host and head of the OWN network tweeted a tribute to Dyer on Sunday night:

It was always a pleasure to talk to @DrWayneWDyer about life's big questions. He always had big answers. RIP Wayne. You brought the Light. - Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) August 31, 2015

Ellen DeGeneres, another longtime fan of Dyer's, offered her own tribute, complete with a photo from her 2008 wedding to actress Portia De Rossi.  

The world has lost an incredible man. Wayne Dyer officiated our wedding & was an inspiration to so many. Sending love pic.twitter.com/kzsCS278jr -- Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) August 30, 2015

In more than 30 books, including "The Power of Intention" and "Stop the Excuses! How to Change Lifelong Thoughts," Dyer espoused a philosophy that positive, happy thoughts can lead to a positive, happy life.

***

the story of Wayne Walter Dyer was classic Dickensian.

Born in Detroit in 1940, Dyer grew up an orphan, an experience that molded a self-reliance as well as an aversion to self-pity.

"I grew up in the east side of Detroit in an area where there was very little, except for a lot of scarcity, poverty and hunger," he said in a 2009 interview with Success magazine. "But I never woke up saying, 'I'm an orphan again today, isn't this terrible? Poor me,' (...) there were a couple of very affluent neighborhoods nearby, but I never thought for one second that those people had more than I had. It just seemed that they got what they were entitled to, and if I really wanted those things, then I would have them, too."

After a stint in the Navy, Dyer pursued an education in counseling, graduating with advanced degrees from Wayne State University. He was teaching at St. Johns University in New York in 1976 when he penned his first self-help book. His life would never be the same.

"Your Erroneous Zones: Step-by-Step Advice for Escaping the Trap of Negative Thinking and Taking Control of Your Life" brought him out of the classroom and the clinic and propelled him onto the speaker's circuit, earning him millions on its way to becoming one of the best-selling books of all time.

Dyer espoused his philosophy throughout the more than 30 self-help books, including "The Power of Intention" and "Stop the Excuses! How to Change Lifelong Thoughts." His books generally centered around the notion that one has to has to think positive, happy beliefs in order to live a positive, happy life.

He stayed busy until the very end, doling out pithy nuggets of wisdom to his Twitter followers ('chasing success is like trying to squeeze a handful of water. The tighter you squeeze, the less water you get.') and maintaining a hectic speaking schedule.

Dyer, who lived in Maui, married three times and had eight children. 

Krugman calls for more debt?

Rand Paul said something funny the other day. No, really — although of course it wasn’t intentional. On his Twitter account he decried the irresponsibility of American fiscal policy, declaring, “The last time the United States was debt free was 1835.”

Wags quickly noted that the U.S. economy has, on the whole, done pretty well these past 180 years, suggesting that having the government owe the private sector money might not be all that bad a thing. The British government, by the way, has been in debt for more than three centuries, an era spanning the Industrial Revolution, victory over Napoleon, and more.

But is the point simply that public debt isn’t as bad as legend has it? Or can government debt actually be a good thing?

Believe it or not, many economists argue that the economy needs a sufficient amount of public debt out there to function well. And how much is sufficient? Maybe more than we currently have. That is, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that part of what ails the world economy right now is that governments aren’t deep enough in debt.

I know that may sound crazy. After all, we’ve spent much of the past five or six years in a state of fiscal panic, with all the Very Serious People declaring that we must slash deficits and reduce debt now now now or we’ll turn into Greece, Greece I tell you.

But the power of the deficit scolds was always a triumph of ideology over evidence, and a growing number of genuinely serious people — most recently Narayana Kocherlakota, the departing president of the Minneapolis Fed — are making the case that we need more, not less, government debt.

Why?

One answer is that issuing debt is a way to pay for useful things, and we should do more of that when the price is right. The United States suffers from obvious deficiencies in roads, rails, water systems and more; meanwhile, the federal government can borrow at historically low interest rates. So this is a very good time to be borrowing and investing in the future, and a very bad time for what has actually happened: an unprecedented decline in public construction spending adjusted for population growth and inflation.

Beyond that, those very low interest rates are telling us something about what markets want. I’ve already mentioned that having at least some government debt outstanding helps the economy function better. How so? The answer, according to M.I.T.’s Ricardo Caballero and others, is that the debt of stable, reliable governments provides “safe assets” that help investors manage risks, make transactions easier and avoid a destructive scramble for cash.

Columbia House

The mail-order music company that once tantalized countless broke teenagers by offering popular CDs for pocket change no longer exists.

Filmed Entertainment Inc., the parent company of Columbia House, on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is seeking to sell off the last vestiges of what was once a billion-dollar business.

The Columbia House music club combined with formal rival BMG Direct in 2005. It shuttered its music club entirely in 2010 and began selling only movies. FEI acquired the company two years later.

By earlier this year, a third-party service was handling all of Columbia House's operations, and the company had no employees.

Famous for its eight-CDs-for-a-penny deals, Columbia House was at the height of its popularity in the mid-'90s, when it accounted for 15 percent of all CD sales, according to The Boston Phoenix's 2011 profile of the company. Columbia House reached its peak revenue in 1996, raking in roughly $1.4 billion that year. But the company's fortunes have been in a steady two-decade decline, netting just $17 million last year.

"This decline is directly attributable to a confluence of market factors that substantially altered the manner in which consumers purchase and listen to music, as well as the way consumers purchase and watch movies and television series at home," FEI Director Glenn Langberg said in court papers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Despite its popularity and seemingly irresistible deals, Columbia House eventually became reviled for the terms concealed in its fine print: Though members could nab a stack of albums for 1 cent, they had to buy additional albums over time -- at a high markup and with exorbitant shipping rates -- to fulfill the membership agreement.

Jon Stewart signs off

Genuine warmth is an extraordinarily rare commodity on television, which is why Jon Stewart’s final “The Daily Show” was something to be treasured, savored and maybe even played back a few times. As with most media-hyped events, Stewart’s exit came with such inflated expectations that it’s the sort of thing the host himself would have delighted in skewering. Yet the parade of former correspondents who lined up to bid him farewell not only celebrated what he called “the talent that has passed through these doors” but the guy who gave them that opportunity as he rides into the sunset.

Stewart opened by pretending to cover the Republican debate (which actually took place after his taping), which turned into an extended series of cameos by practically everyone who has worked for the show on camera. The producers even squeezed in testimonials from other luminaries, from Craig Kilborn – from whom Stewart inherited the franchise – to Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Bill O’Reilly.

Still, the real emotional gut punch fell, appropriately, to Stephen Colbert, who forced Stewart – who has resisted attempts to lionize him building up to the finish – to listen to a testimonial on behalf of all those who had worked for him. “You were infuriatingly good at your job,” Colbert said, and if Stewart was acting when he began to choke up, then he has a career in movies ahead of him that has nothing to do with directing.

Frankly, that would have been enough to make the hour wonderfully memorable. But the show followed that up with an extremely clever “Goodfellas” spoof, introducing everyone who had worked on the show in one extended tracking shot (and throwing in a Martin Scorsese cameo for good measure). It’s become standard operating procedure for latenight hosts to acknowledge their staffs, but this effort brought more flair to the process than most.

In the night’s ultimate highlight, Stewart then channeled the late George Carlin, and perhaps a bit of David Steinberg, in offering what amounted to parting words of advice to his audience, an extended rumination on the “bull—-” that permeates our politics, and the one word that can inoculate the public against it: vigilance. In a strange, sweet way, it felt almost like an older relative addressing a kid, telling him or her what to look out for when he’s no longer around to run interference.

Each of these segments, and especially that last one, showcased what Stewart has uniquely brought to “The Daily Show.” In an age of news coverage where partisanship often demands getting both sides of even the most absurd argument, he astutely knifed through the clutter, in a way that frequently spoke to people who had the same thoughts but didn’t hear them articulated much – or nearly as well – in other venues.

Stewart has always brought a self-effacing quality to the desk, which is part of his comedic persona. But his goodbye, in which he described his time hosting the show as a “privilege,” sounded heartfelt and sincere. The biggest non-surprise, frankly, was that he would turn the final minutes over to Bruce Springsteen, a natural sendoff for a native son of New Jersey.

Despite all the inevitable analysis regarding Stewart’s legacy, the sun will still rise Friday. But come Monday – when Stewart would have had an opportunity to weigh in on that aforementioned Republican presidential debate – Thursday’s finale merely reinforced the sense that there’s going to be a void in a lot of people’s lives more significant than just that extra half-hour four nights a week. And Trevor Noah – who came out to measure Stewart’s desk – certainly has his work cut out for him.

eliminating poverty and hunger?

UNITED NATIONS — The 193 member states of the United Nations have reached agreement on a new development agenda for the next 15 years that calls for eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, improving living standards and taking urgent action to combat climate change.

The draft agreement reached Sunday evening outlines 17 goals with 169 specific targets on issues ranging from ending poverty "in all its forms everywhere" to ensuring quality education and affordable and reliable energy, and protecting the environment.

"We can be the first generation that ends global poverty, and the last generation to prevent the worst impacts of global warming before it is too late," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters Monday.

The document — called "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" — will be adopted at a U.N. summit just before the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly in late September.

Ban said "the goals represent a 'to-do' list for people and the planet."

"They address the requirements for all humanity to be able to live decent lives free from poverty, hunger and inequality," he said. "They commit all of us to be responsible global citizens, caring for the less fortunate as well as for our planet's ecosystems and climate action on which all life depends."

The 17 new, non-binding goals will succeed the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by world leaders 15 years ago.

***

[8/20/15] Charles Buck calls this a miracle

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Last week, esteemed author Dr. Stephen R. Covey died. He was the author of the The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, an extremely popular self-help book that has sold more than 25 million copies in 38 languages since its publication in 1989. He was among Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans in 1996. He also was the founder of the Covey Leadership Center, which later became FranklinCovey, a company focusing on leadership, strategy and individual effectiveness.

Covey had a profound effect on me during my time at West Point, in the Army and now in the business world. In almost everything I do, I use some aspect of Covey’s universal principles of leadership and ethics. The Hawaii Army National Guard a few years ago saw the value of the seven habits and trained its senior leaders with Covey’s leadership principles. Covey and his famous book brought a new language to business.

Here the seven habits with a brief description:

Independence or Self-mastery – Know thyself!

Habit 1: Be Proactive.

Take initiative and responsibility in your decisions instead of being reactive. This is the primary factor for effectiveness in our lives. Life doesn’t just happen, it is based on the choices we make. Choices give us the opportunity to be proactive and produce more positive results.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. Where is it that you want to accomplish in life? Visualize what you want in life, who you want to become, and what you want to achieve. Create a mission statement for yourself. Understanding the end goal will help you keep focused on your values.

Habit 3: Put First Things First. Prioritizing, plan and execute tasks based on what is important, not necessarily what is urgent. Focus on your top priorities so you don’t overextend yourself.

Interdependence – Know how to work with others!

Habit 4: Think Win-Win. Life is about relationships and cooperating with people. Genuinely strive for what is best for everyone and mutually beneficial. This requires integrity, maturity and an abundance mentality (there is enough for everyone!).

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. Listening to others is critical to creating an atmosphere of mutual respect. Communication is the most important skill in life. Listen with the intent to understand, not just reply.

Habit 6: Synergize. No one person is greater than the whole. Teamwork is essential for the best performance of a group. Value differences to drive synergy and accomplish more than an individual can.

Self-renewal – Know how to self-rejuvenate!

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. Have a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual. Renewing yourself creates growth change in your life. Keeping yourself fresh is essential to maintaining the other six habits.

Covey’s teachings will influence generations to come. That is the greatest legacy anyone can leave. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Covey family today.

Copyright © 2015 MidWeek | All rights reserved.

Seven Habits Of Successful People

David S. Chang

on August 1, 2012 at 12:01 am

[largely reprinted in the July 22, 2015 column]

it's the real thing

ATLANTA — A viral graphic reportedly shows the effects one can of Coca-Cola has on a person’s body over one hour.

The graphic, titled “What Happens One Hour After Drinking A Can Of Coke,” was first posted by The Renegade Pharmacist. It claims to detail what happens to the body after 10, 20, 40, 45 and 60 minutes.

First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100 percent of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)

40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

>60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes and water.

>60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, *ahem* peed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

***

But isn't it a healthy treat?

Blentec blender

[9/18/15] I've been going with the standard: frozen fruit, and/or frozen berries, apple, veggies (spinach and kale) along with coconut milk.  Pretty tasty, most tasty if you drink within a day or so of making it.

It's sweet, not like Suja, but I've kind of gotten addicted to the suja taste which is definitely not sweet, but kind of tangy due to the lemon.  What's in Suja (organic mighty greens)?  apple, celery, cucumber, kale, collard greens, lemon, peppermint tea, spearmint tea, spinach, ginger, spirulina, chlorella, barley grass & alfalfa grass.

Then I was looking at Joe Cross' mean green juice recipe, the one he drank on Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  The ingredients: cucumber, apple, celery, kale, lemon, ginger.  All ingredients in Suja.  [10/8/15 - youtube]

So let's try that.  Even though Joe juiced it, I'm going to try to blend it and see how it turns out.  I think I'll add a little water too.

Bought the ingredients at Safeway (lemon, ginger, cucumber, celery -- I already had apples from Costco).  Turned out to be like 12 bucks.  We'll see how many serviings it pumps out.  And how it tastes.

Here goes...

I think I'll go with a half recipe for starters.  Half-a-cucumber.  I'll peel off some of the skin since it has a bitter taste. Two celery stalks.  One apple.  Don't have kale, so I'll just throw in some spring mix.  1/4 lemon (peel and all, Joe leaves on the peel though the recipe says to peel it, it says to peel here, but I read somewhere that you don't have to peel.  Here it is, page 12 of his book), 1/2 inch ginger.  Put in a little water, about 1/3 cup.

Start it up on low, then switch to medium.  Looks a little thick, so I added a little more water.  So I have about 1/2 cup in there.

Try some.  Doesn't taste that great.  Can definitely taste the ginger.  And a little of the lemon.

Let's add some ice and some frozen fruit...

I guess a little better.  Not that great.  Drinkable I suppose.  Kind of pulpy.  Maybe because of the lemon peel.

***

[tried a couple new recipes today, well it wasn't written down but I just tried it]

Silk, greek yogurt, frozen berries, frozen fruit, a little greens.

Turned it on and a few seconds later it seemed like nothing was moving although I could hear the noise of the motor.  Turned it off.  Somehow it turned out to be almost like ice cream.  Scooped it out.  Not bad.  Berry ice cream.  Almost.

Then tonight, I tried silk, no yogurt, frozen fruit, the last of the greens (was getting a little slimy anyway, but I kind of rinsed it..)  Hey pretty good.  Kind of a fruit shake.  The silk (vanilla flavor) gave it that sweet taste.  This is the tastiest one that I've made yet.

***

Finally decided to get a Blentec blender.  I had been thinking of getting a NutriBullet which my sister has and likes, but she got it on sale at Costco and it's no longer at the sale price.

Meanwhile, the lady demo person was back and her ice cream was tasty.  Plus there was a customer there looking who said she has a Blentec.  I asked her how she likes her Blentec and she said she loves it.  She had a Vitamix but the Blentec is easier to clean.  Plus the Vitamix blades are sharp.

Plus I remember Bobby Smith telling me that Kekoa bought a Blentec which they use.  So if it's good enough for him..

Plus it was $50 off the Costco price of $299.  I think the last time I saw the Vitamix at Costco it was selling for $450 or thereabouts.  Plus it's Costco.  Easily returnable.

[Looking online, I see Amazon is selling the Blentec for $329.  The Vitamix 5200 is $499.99 at Costco.com.   $529.95 at Amazon.]

OK, go for it.  It's the Classic 570 model.

Now to get the ingredients.

I want to make a green smoothie, so I went around looking for green smoothie recipes.

I already had some apples from Costco, so I wanted a green smoothie using apples.

Anyway, first you need a liquid.  Coconut milk is a suggested item.  I decided on water.  OK, I have that.

The green part comes from veggies.  I figured kale or spinach was healthy.  And I saw a bag of kale, spinach, and chard.  I don't know what chard is, but spinach and kale together?  OK, I'll take it.  [Taylor Farms Organic Superfood Power Greens: Chard, Kale & Spinach.  It's "Healthy and Delicious."]

How about the fruits (beside the apple).  At first I was going to get the frozen mixed berries, but there was a demo of mango, pineapple, strawberry, papaya.  Didn't taste too bad.  OK, I'll get that.  [It's the Wawona Festival Blend.]

This recipe had cucumber in it.  So I bought a bag of baby cucumbers.

***

OK, open the box.  It comes in a nice box, well packed.

There's only three parts to it.  The base (with the motor), the jar, and the cover to the jar.  That's it.  Simple enough.

Now to make the smoothie.

Here's Blentec's instructions on how to make a basic green smoothie.  So this is the base instructions.

The recipe is 3 cups cold water, 3 cups leafy greens, 3 cups fresh and frozen fruit.

First add water and greens and pulse 4-6 times to chop the greens.

Then add fruit and select whole juice.  The problem with this instruction is that there's no whole juice button on the blentec.

Looking in the pamphlet there's a recipe for Jolly Green Smoothie

The directions say, "add all the ingredients in the order listed and secure lid.  Select "smoothie".  Simple enough.

So the liquid first (probably doesn't make much difference on the liquid), then the fruit, then the greens, then ice.  Sounds simple enough.

[After I made the smoothie, I see this in the instructions:

For best results, load your ingredients to the jar in this order (unless otherwise stated in the recipe):

1.  Liquids (water, juice, milk)
2.  Soft solids (peanut butter, bananas, and other soft fruits, powders)
3.  Hard, dense, or frozen items (carrots, frozen strawberries, ice)

What about the greens?  From the Jolly Green Smoothie recipe, it goes after the frozen fruit and before the ice.]

[7/20/15 - in this video, greensmoothiegirl puts in the greens first.  So I'd guess it doesn't really make that much of a difference.]

Hopefully this video is an anomaly and it doesn't leak.  Apparently some people have had problems with the rubber gasket leaking.  (If I get this problem, I'll return it to Costco.)

Another problem I heard about is that the vibration makes the blender travel across the counter rather than staying put.

OK, here's a problem before I even start.  The power cord has a three prong plug and is pretty short.  It doesn't even reach from the kitchen table to the floor outlet.

OK, unplug the toaster oven and move it in front of it.

Now I see it's actually four parts.  The cover is actually two parts.  A larger squarish rubber cover with a square hole in the middle where you put a plastic cover piece over it.

OK, let's start.

Two cups of water
one apple sliced
two cups of frozen fruit (actually less since there's a lot of air space between the fruit)
two cups of greens

I'll skip the ice, since the fruit is frozen

OK put the cover on.  And press smoothie.  Here goes...

Nothing.  Ah, there's a power switch in the back of the unit that you have to flip on.

Here goes again...

When I pressed the button, the unit vibrated and jumped and moved a little on the counter.  I grabbed it  After the initial movement it seemed to hop up and down a little but didn't move any more after that.

The whole process took 60 seconds. And everything seemed to blend.

The result wasn't green like in the picture but more brownish green.

OK, now to actually drink the stuff.

First rinse off the cover.
See not all the greens were pulverized as I see a stem floating.  I guess that's minor.  Or a feature, like a mint stem.

Lift off the jar.  Notice no leakage.

Pour into a cup.

Drink.

Hey, not bad.  Not bad at all.  Didn't need any honey or agave as the fruit was sweet enough.  And it was cool, though maybe a few ice cubes wouldn't have hurt.

I'll give it thumbs up for now.

I guess I'll pour the leftover into the suja bottle.

And see how to clean it.

And the demo, they just put water in it and pulsed and it was clean.

The instructions say to "add a cup of water and drop of dish soap to the jar, secure the lid, and pulse for 10 seconds.  Remove and rinse."

Taking my second serving, it wasn't just a stem but the whole sprig with the leafy part pretty much intact.  No problem, I'll just eat it..

Third cup.  OK, getting full.  Fourth cup.  OK, I'm full.

Pour the rest into the Suja bottle.  Not really that much left.

Rinse the jar.  Pretty much rinses off clean.  Don't think I need to pulse it, but I'll do it anyway (without the soap).

It says to pulse for 10 seconds.  I don't know if that means to hold down the pulse button for ten seconds.  Ok just press the button briefly to pulse and do that for ten seconds.  I feel more comfortable doing the latter so as not to strain the motor.  I guess either way.

OK, I guess I'll keep it for now..

[7/18/15]  For my second try, I'll put in some cucumber instead of the frozen fruit to try to approximate the Suja.  Definitely not as sweet as with the fruit or as cold (or as tasty).  I think I'll put in some ice next time.  And maybe a little fruit too.  And maybe one baby cucumber instead of two.

[7/20/15]  OK, back to the fruit.  Water.  Frozen fruit.  1 baby cucumber (peel off the skin).  1 apple slice (take off the skin but leave the seeds).  Power greens.  A few ice cubes.  Hold the unit when I start the cycle so it doesn't travel across the counter.

Yep, much more tasty than without the fruit.

The Burton-Bruce Connection

Unless you’re deep into the martial arts scene or enjoy sticking around for the end of films just to read obscure movie credits, chances are this is the first time you’re saying the name Burton Richardson in your head and studying his face. That’s good. You should be making mental notes of him, just in case you end up crossing paths in the future and you decide to do something insanely stupid, like challenge him to a fight.

Richardson is an expert martial artist and instructor of multiple disciplines who’s trained many of UFC’s top fighters, including middleweight Chris Leben and film stars such as the late Brandon Lee, son of legendary martial artist, actor and philosopher Bruce Lee. He’s also the founder and president of JKD Unlimited, a functional, street-oriented training school rooted in Bruce Lee’s eclectic system and way of life philosophy known as jeet kune do, or JKD. The training school has approximately two dozen instructors around the globe, with base operations here on Oahu.

And his skill level has commanded the respect of filmmakers, who’ve hired Richardson as a stuntman and fight choreographer for flicks such as Kickboxer 4 and 5, Heatseeker, Fire Down Below with Steven Seagal and The Man in the Iron Mask with Leonardo DiCaprio.

So yeah, he’s a badass – when he has to be. But most times, he’s just a down-to-earth good guy, one who’s quick to smile and slow to anger, unassuming by nature, highly committed to his family and extremely generous in the way he gives of his time in helping others learn, as he puts it, “the ultimate freedom: self-discipline,” and reach what he calls “their unlimited potential.”

“I think martial arts is so important as a self-improvement vehicle because there’s always the other person – an opponent across from you who is actually fighting you and offering resistance,” he says. “Learning to overcome those situations, to get around obstacles, is a big key to living a fulfilling life.

“Ultimately, JKD is not about learning techniques,” continues Richardson, who conducts weekly classes at the Palolo Hongwanji. “It’s learning about yourself and learning to express yourself in an honest way.”

If that last statement sounds awfully Bruce Lee-esque, it’s only fitting since Lee’s life and teachings have been so influential to Richardson.

With this week marking the 72nd year since Lee’s birth, MidWeek has chosen to examine the journey of one man, whose name and face you should now know by heart, and who has masterfully used the teachings of a martial arts legend to elevate both his life and the lives of those around him.

how to get rid of ants

and other life hacks courtesy of The King of Random

Tibetan Buddhism

Buddhism is a made-up religion. This ability to reinvent itself has played an important role in the successful spread of Buddhism. While some religions are still associated with one particular ethnic group or a specific geographical location, Buddhism has transcended such boundaries. What is more, whereas other religions have spread aggressively by force — physical and/or theological — Buddhism has largely cultivated for itself a positive reputation for peace and compassion wherever it has traveled. It has been able to achieve this for the most part because Buddhism has effectively recreated itself to adjust to the local context wherever it has spread.

Tibetan Buddhism is a case in point.

There are certain traits in Tibetan Buddhism that distinguish it from most other forms of Buddhism. To begin with, Buddhism arrived in Tibet rather late when compared to the acceptance of Buddhism in other countries. Buddhism began in India in the fifth century BCE, but did not reach Tibet until roughly 1,000 years later in the seventh century CE. By this time, Buddhism had already established itself elsewhere — Sri Lanka, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan — centuries before. Buddhism entered Tibet from India a second time in the 11th century, introducing yet another form of Buddhism that interacted with the local culture and indigenous religious tradition.

Tibetan Buddhism is largely based on different scriptures from the ones that influenced Buddhism in places such as China, Korea and Japan. In those countries, Buddhist sutras became highly influential, whereas in Tibet other writings, including Buddhist tantras, shaped the religion. Buddhist tantras — intimately connected to esoteric Buddhism — developed in India in the sixth or seventh century CE, long after the time of the historical Buddha. The writings of tantric Buddhism are based on the notion that progress in the path to enlightenment may be hastened through techniques of esoteric ritual and yoga. In tantric Buddhism, the sacred is realized in the ordinary, and the adept can transcend worldly desires by fulfilling them. Spiritually accomplished teachers — known as lamas — reveal these esoteric teachings and practices to qualified disciples.

Lamas are highly revered religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism, and followers give them absolute faith and loyalty. As various Buddhist sects and monasteries in Tibet gained power, the leading lamas also began to wield significant authority, both political and spiritual. But since many of the lamas took vows of celibacy, problems of succession arose. A response to this issue was the rise of the unique Tibetan Buddhist practice of belief in a reincarnate lama. After the death of a great lama, religious elders begin a search to identify the next incarnation of the spiritual master. This practice was developed in Tibet in the 11th century and there are about 3,000 lines of incarnation of various lamas.

Luckily for Tibetan Buddhists and the search committee, the departed spirits of the lamas have tended to be reincarnated in Tibet. While there are numerous lamas in Tibetan Buddhism, the best known is the world-famous Dalai Lama.

The title “Dalai Lama” (Ocean of Wisdom) was created by a Mongolian ruler in the 16th century and bestowed upon a high-ranking lama in one of the Tibetan Buddhist sects. The first Dalai Lama to assume political and spiritual leadership of Tibet was the fifth Dalai Lama. This occurred in 1642 after defeating political and religious rivals — including those of other Tibetan Buddhist sects. From then until 1959, when a revolt broke out against Chinese control of the region, Tibet was ruled by a succession of Dalai Lamas, each male and each identified as a young child after his predecessor had died. The 14th (and current) Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he leads a government in exile. China rejects this government, calling the Dalai Lama and his followers “splitists.”

The second-highest-ranking lama, the Panchen Lama, plays a significant role in identifying the next Dalai Lama. In turn, the Dalai Lama selects the future Panchen Lama. After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the current Dalai Lama recognized a child in Tibet as the 11th incarnation. China rejected this selection — as control of the Panchen Lama can lead to control of the Dalai Lama — and chose a different boy instead. Chinese authorities removed the Dalai Lama’s choice and the boy has not been seen since.

Persecuting religion usually does not weaken it, but invigorates it. China’s attempt to repress Tibetan Buddhism has caused the religion to flourish elsewhere, including in the United States, where it is reinventing itself yet again to appeal to the wider public. The esoteric rituals central to Tibetan Buddhism designed to appease spirits and bring about good luck are downplayed or neglected altogether. Instead, an emphasis on Tibetan Buddhism as a mystical tradition that stresses meditation and logic characterizes the American version of the religion. Reverence for the Dalai Lama, however, remains constant.

In 2011, the Dalai Lama made a shrewd political move by divesting himself of political power. The Dalai Lama also has suggested that he might be reincarnated as a woman or indeed not be reincarnated at all after his death. Such is the privilege that comes with enlightenment to determine one’s own post-mortem fate. The Dalai Lama’s actions have infuriated the Chinese government, as he nullifies the importance of the Chinese-selected Panchen Lama. Many Tibetans, who seek to preserve cherished traditions in their political and spiritual struggle with China, also are troubled by these developments.

The institution of the Dalai Lama is man-made. Its demise also might be the same as Tibetan Buddhism reinvents itself to continue outside Tibet.

-- Jay Sakashita, Midweek, June 24, 2015

suffering explained

One of the basic functions of religion is to help followers make sense out of ‘non-sense.’ … By providing a why to life, religion enables us to bear almost any how.

I don’t enjoy what I’m good at. I have a knack for choosing the slowest checkout line to stand in at stores. I somehow know which cashier will run out of register tape just when it’s my turn to pay. Even when in a rush, I have an innate ability to find the customers returning merchandise and stand behind them. While I am good at knowing the slowest checkout lines to stand in, I am bad at understanding the questions cashiers ask. I’m too honest, I think.

When I left a 50-pound bag of dog food in the shopping cart and the cashier asked, “Dog food for you?” I answered, “No. It’s for my dog.” When cashiers ask, “Did you find everything you need?” I say, “No, but that’s what religion is for.”

Indeed, religion can make the difficult times bearable, meaningful and even pleasurable.

How does religion do this? One of the basic functions of religion is to help followers make sense out of “non-sense.” As one of my professors was fond of saying, “Religions are meaning producing systems.” Religion offers different models of faith strategies to deal with misfortune and unpleasant situations, transforming the meaningless into something meaningful in the process. By providing a why to life, religion enables us to bear almost any how.

While there are more models than I can cover in a short article, here is a brief look at some of the more common ones I’ve used to rationalize frustrating experiences, both as an overtasked, under appreciated cashier years ago and as a self-centered customer now.

Judicial Model
Suffering is punishment for past transgressions. I am standing in the slowest checkout line because of the bad karma I’ve accumulated or as punishment for sin. I must be patient and endure, and I will be renewed once I emerge from this trial. Besides, it’s better I suffer now in this world than to face judgment in the world to come.

Medicinal Model
Suffering is good spiritual medicine for me. Waiting in line 15 minutes to buy a greeting card will make me a better person. It cleanses my soul. It turns my attention to the divine and opens me up to what is sacred. It’s finally my turn to pay. The cashier now decides to take a break and the new cashier must change register drawers. I recite a mantra. Breathing in, I calm the mind and body. Breathing out, I release the frustration, heal my spirit and smile.

Workout Model
Suffering builds strength of character and spirit. A customer just before me has misread the sale sign but still insists on being right. This is spiritual training, strengthening me for future trials. The cashier calls for a price check, but no one responds. The cashier leaves the register to personally check on the price. I accept this challenging situation because the gods would not have given me more than I can handle. The cashier returns; the customer demands to speak to the manager. I think the gods have overestimated me.

Compassionate Model
Suffering creates a kinder and more understanding person. I feel sorry for cashiers who have to deal with rude customers talking on their phones and treating them like non-entities. I’m indebted to this experience for teaching me the value of compassion. After all, how can we truly know kindness if there were no uncaring, selfish human beings in the world to show us the opposite? I am not alone in my suffering; I feel a bond with the cashier. I make sure I greet my cashier. WE>I.

Magical Curse Model
The one causing me to suffer will get it worse in the end. The anguish I’m experiencing becomes pleasurable when I think of how much worse it will be for the one afflicting me now. A customer has ignored the 10 item limit sign at the checkout. This same person took up two parking stalls in front of the store. Who does this person think (s)he is? This person will suffer greatly in hell. I somehow feel better now.

Ultimate Plan Model
There is a reason for my suffering greater than I can understand. I couldn’t find parking, I chose the shopping cart with a broken wheel, and after all this the item I came to buy is gone. Though life goes in mysterious ways, I’m secure in the thought that there is a greater plan and things will somehow work out in the end.

Grateful Model
My suffering cannot compare to the suffering the founder of my faith endured for me. No matter that the cashier happily chatted away with a co-worker and did not bother to acknowledge me throughout the entire transaction. The world did not acknowledge the founder of my faith either and rejected him outright. Had he not suffered in the way he did, my current situation would be hopeless. I embrace my suffering for sake of the founder of my faith and I’m thankful for the chance to experience a little of what he went through. My pain binds me to my god.

The above models offer different lines of understanding for moving from incomprehensible pain and frustration to meaningful suffering. With proper faith, meaning is possible in and through pain. When it comes to seeking relief from my own suffering, I believe I’m waiting in the right line.

Jay Sakashita teaches religion courses at Leeward Community College and UH Manoa.

where the presidential candidates get their money

There will probably be more money flowing into the 2016 presidential race than in any election in U.S. history. The most important new trend is the hundreds of millions flowing into “super PACs” and other outside spending groups, which can accept unlimited amounts from rich donors and spend it on ads and other efforts to support favored candidates or help defeat their opponents.

The gusher of political money flowing from “economic elites” may even endanger democracy itself, according to a recent study by two leading academics, since it concentrates political influence among a small number of billionaires while disenfranchising typical voters.

With crony capitalism and income inequality likely to be prominent issues in the election, Yahoo Finance will track the big donors funding each candidate, and why they might be doing that.

Hillary Clinton. Fundraising tier, out of 3 levels: Highest

Prominent donors: Most of the usual big Democratic givers, including Tom Steyer, Fred Eychaner, James Simons, George Soros, Marc Lasry, Reid Hoffman, Jeffrey Katzenberg and John Doerr.

Advantages: A vast network of rich contacts from her years as a senator and Secretary of State, and of course her husband Bill’s years as president.

Vulnerabilities: Clinton may seem such a shoe-in that donors grow complacent and hold back, leaving her at a funding disadvantage against Jeb Bush or whoever the Republican nominee turns out to be.

Jeb Bush. Fundraising tier, out of 3: Highest.

Prominent donors: Big names in business and finance, such as financier Henry Kravis, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, Chicago banker Byron Trott, oilman T. Boone Pickens and cellphone pioneer Craig McCaw.

Advantages: Inherits mainstream GOP fundraising network cultivated by his brother George W. Bush, his father, George H.W. Bush, and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Vulnerabilities: May need to spend a lot of money slogging through drawn-out primary elections.

Scott Walker. Fundraising tier: Middle.

Prominent donors: GOP heavyweights Sheldon Adelson and Charles and David Koch have contributed to Walker as Wisconsin governor and could back him for president (though Walker probably won’t declare his candidacy until early July).

Advantages: Walker’s anti-union crusade in Wisconsin has made him a favorite of conservatives impressed by action as well as talk.

Vulnerabilities: Few voters know much about Walker, which could make him too much of an underdog in the eyes of some donors.

Marco Rubio. Fundraising tier: Middle.

Prominent donors: Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Florida billionaire Norman Braman, Florida sugar baron Jose “Pepe” Fanjul.

Advantages: At 44, Rubio has a bright political future even if he doesn’t win in 2016—perhaps running for Florida governor in 2018. That should attract some donors who wouldn’t otherwise support an underdog.

Vulnerabilities: Could become overdependent on a small number of rich donors.

Ted Cruz. Fundraising tier: Middle

Prominent donor: Hedge funder Robert Mercer of Renaissance Technologies.

Advantages: Cruz is on the far right of the political spectrum, which makes him the favored candidate of many Tea Partiers and ultraconservatives such as Mercer.

Vulnerabilities: Though his wife has been a senior Goldman Sachs executive, Cruz has alienated the business community through efforts to shut down the federal government and other disruptive political tactics.

Lindsey Graham. Fundraising tier: Middle to lowest

Prominent donor: Michael Bloomberg, who donated to Graham’s super PAC as a way of promoting bipartisanship.

Advantages: The South Carolina senator’s hawkish views on the Middle East have strong appeal to Jewish conservatives such as billionaire Sheldon Adelson (who hasn’t yet endorsed a candidate).

Vulnerabilities: Graham’s hawkishness alienates libertarians, independents and (needless to say) most Democrats.

Carly Fiorina. Fundraising tier: Middle to lowest

Prominent donor: Herself. Fiorina spent nearly $6 million of her own money running for the Senate in California in 2010. (She lost.)

Advantages: As the only woman among a male-dominated parade of GOP candidates, Fiorina might emerge as a vice-presidential running mate to Jeb Bush or another frontrunner.

Vulnerabilities. Big GOP donors who supported Fiorina as a Senate candidate—such as T. Boone Pickens, Paul Singer and Ken Griffin—seem likely to back other candidates now that the presidency is at stake.

Rick Perry. Fundraising tier: Middle to lowest

Prominent donors: Texas businessmen Thomas Friedkin and Kenny Trout.

Advantages: Texas, where Perry was governor, is a big state with big money.

Vulnerabilities: Perry’s listless performance as a presidential candidate in 2012 makes a lot of donors wonder why he’s doing it again.

Mike Huckabee. Fundraising tier: Lowest

Prominent donor: Televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

Advantages: The former Arkansas governor, a fundamentalist southern Baptist minister, has a considerable following thanks to his former gig as a Fox News commentator and frequent appearances at Christian gatherings.

Vulnerabilities: Huck, as he’s known, has little appeal beyond Christian conservatives, which is why he ranked 11^th in fundraising when he ran for president in 2008.

Ben Carson. Fundraising tier: Lowest

Prominent donor: Harry Bettis, an Idaho rancher who supports Republican candidates and causes.

Advantages: Personal rags-to-riches narrative that could inspire small donors.

Vulnerabiliites: No natural constituency, other than voters who are sick of all the usual candidates.

Rick Santorum. Fundraising tier: Lowest

Prominent donors: Bill Doré and Foster Friess.

Advantages: His supporters tend to be true believers inspired by Santorum’s religious and moral positions.

Vulnerabilities: There aren’t nearly enough of them.

George Pataki. Fundraising tier: Lowest

Prominent donor: He’s desperately seeking one.

Advantages: Three terms as New York governor left Pataki well-acquainted with many East Coast businesspeople, including some top GOP donors.

Vulnerabilities: George who?

Wait! There's one more guy...