on Spike TV
Yahoo! highlights
Thursday, May 29, 2014
are vitamins a waste of time?
(CNN) -- More than half of all adults in the United
States take some sort of multivitamin; many do so in hopes of preventing
heart disease and cancer or even to aid with memory.
So I wanted you to know what the fine print said so you were not misled. And so you didn't throw
those babies – your multivitamins, your vitamin D3 and four other supplements I'll elaborate on in future blog posts – out with the bathwater.
What the fine print said were that all those people in these studies had normal nutrition and had no vitamin deficiencies, were not potentially or actually pregnant and weren't tested for quality-of-life issues like eyesight. And the news media ignored the significant 8 percent reduction in non-prostate cancers for men over 50, significant 18 percent reduction in non-prostate cancers for men over 70 and the non-significant (because they didn't study enough people) 11 percent reduction in cardiovascular events and deaths (of a high-dose vitamin regimen compared with a low-dose one – yes, everyone in that study received vitamin supplementation).
Yes, the studies had that in the fine print. The editorial noted some of this, but left out the importance of vitamins to eyesight and to preventing 40 percent of autism, 60 percent of childhood cancers (up to age 6) and over 80 percent of congenital defects; it also left out that the cardiovascular study was of a high dose versus a low dose of some vitamins and minerals to prevent deficiency.
My take: You still will benefit from taking half a daily multivitamin containing important nutrients at levels close to their recommended daily allowance twice a day if you are potentially going to become, or are, pregnant, or as an insurance policy against an inadequate diet in people over 50 or if you care about your eyesight (add 900 milligrams of DHA plus 10 milligrams of lutein and 2 milligrams of zeaxanthin a day – more on that in the next blog or two in this series).
So I think half a multi twice a day is a great, inexpensive insurance policy against an imperfect diet. If you think an 18 percent reduction in cancer rates is worth it when you hit age 70, then you should too. And certainly all women who are possibly going to be pregnant, should.
*** [8/15/14] see also http://kulasoft.blogspot.com/2008/08/to-supplement-or-not-to-supplement.html
But an editorial
published in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine says that using
supplements and multivitamins to prevent chronic conditions is a waste
of money.
"The (vitamin and
supplement) industry is based on anecdote, people saying 'I take this,
and it makes me feel better,' said Dr. Edgar Miller, professor of
medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
and co-author of the editorial.
"It's perpetuated. But
when you put it to the test, there's no evidence of benefit in the long
term. It can't prevent mortality, stroke or heart attack."
The editorial, "Enough is
Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements," is
based on three studies looking at the effects of multivitamins on
preventing heart attacks and cancer, as well as improving cognitive
function in men older than 65. All three studies were also published in
this week's Annals of Internal Medicine.
***
Dr. Roizen responds.
The headlines that appeared would make me go to my doc with questions
were I you (and my or your doc may have not read the fine print) … or
maybe I'd just say to myself, "I don't need these and stop 'em". And
whenever new studies in this area appear, especially headline-making
studies, I review 'em in detail to see if my recommendations should
change. I need to be responsive to the data, but that requires the work
of reading the studies and the fine print in the studies.
These news headlines (headlines like "Are Multivitamins a Waste of Money?," "Vitamins Should Be Avoided" and "Your Multivitamins aren't Doing a D**n Thing" ) and even the editorial in
one of medicines leading journals – the Annals of Internal Medicine –
do mislead unless you are a fine-print reader. And the news headlines
did not mention the fine print.
What the fine print said were that all those people in these studies had normal nutrition and had no vitamin deficiencies, were not potentially or actually pregnant and weren't tested for quality-of-life issues like eyesight. And the news media ignored the significant 8 percent reduction in non-prostate cancers for men over 50, significant 18 percent reduction in non-prostate cancers for men over 70 and the non-significant (because they didn't study enough people) 11 percent reduction in cardiovascular events and deaths (of a high-dose vitamin regimen compared with a low-dose one – yes, everyone in that study received vitamin supplementation).
Yes, the studies had that in the fine print. The editorial noted some of this, but left out the importance of vitamins to eyesight and to preventing 40 percent of autism, 60 percent of childhood cancers (up to age 6) and over 80 percent of congenital defects; it also left out that the cardiovascular study was of a high dose versus a low dose of some vitamins and minerals to prevent deficiency.
My take: You still will benefit from taking half a daily multivitamin containing important nutrients at levels close to their recommended daily allowance twice a day if you are potentially going to become, or are, pregnant, or as an insurance policy against an inadequate diet in people over 50 or if you care about your eyesight (add 900 milligrams of DHA plus 10 milligrams of lutein and 2 milligrams of zeaxanthin a day – more on that in the next blog or two in this series).
So I think half a multi twice a day is a great, inexpensive insurance policy against an imperfect diet. If you think an 18 percent reduction in cancer rates is worth it when you hit age 70, then you should too. And certainly all women who are possibly going to be pregnant, should.
*** [8/15/14] see also http://kulasoft.blogspot.com/2008/08/to-supplement-or-not-to-supplement.html
cynical? why not
(CNN) -- Your spouse "had to stay late at work" --
are you skeptical? Do you think your friend doesn't like you if he
cancels dinner plans? Do you suspect that your co-worker is putting her
ambitions ahead of the team?
Curmudgeons of the world, listen up: This line of negative thinking might actually hurt your health.
A new study in the latest edition of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that cynical people have a higher likelihood of developing dementia.
"There have been previous
studies that showed that people who were cynical were more likely to
die earlier and have other poor health outcomes, but no one that we
could tell ever looked at dementia," said Anna-Maija Tolppanen, one of the study's authors and a professor at the University of Eastern Finland. "We have seen some studies
that show people who are more open and optimistic have a lower risk for
dementia so we thought this was a good question to ask."
The good news is, being highly cynical is not a permanent state of mind.
"I am also certain that
people can learn to change -- they change every day in that they quit
smoking, they lose weight, they cut ties in unhealthy friendships,"
Tindle said. "The ultimate message is people are not 'doomed' if they
have cynical tendencies."
So if your assumptions about people are making you angry and irritable, try having a little more trust.
"All of us are capable
of adopting healthier attitudes," Tindle said. "As a physician, I see
people of all ages making positive change every day."
***
body postures
The brain largely controls the body, but the body can also influence the
brain, by the feedback it sends up the nervous system. In fact, the
body and mind work together to create our perceptions of the world.
Researchers have looked at how the brain interprets the signals coming into it from the rest of the body. Here are some of the ways you can use your body to improve your mind.
[as Cesar says body-mind]
Researchers have looked at how the brain interprets the signals coming into it from the rest of the body. Here are some of the ways you can use your body to improve your mind.
[as Cesar says body-mind]
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
praise, disappointment, and actions
although some parents live vicariously through their children’s
accomplishments, success is not the No. 1 priority for most parents.
We’re much more concerned about our children becoming kind,
compassionate and helpful. Surveys reveal
that in the United States, parents from European, Asian, Hispanic and
African ethnic groups all place far greater importance on caring than
achievement. These patterns hold around the world: When people in 50
countries were asked to report their guiding principles in life, the value that mattered most was not achievement, but caring.
Genetic twin studies suggest that anywhere from a quarter to more than half of our propensity to be giving and caring is inherited. That leaves a lot of room for nurture, and the evidence on how parents raise kind and compassionate children flies in the face of what many of even the most well-intentioned parents do in praising good behavior, responding to bad behavior, and communicating their values.
Genetic twin studies suggest that anywhere from a quarter to more than half of our propensity to be giving and caring is inherited. That leaves a lot of room for nurture, and the evidence on how parents raise kind and compassionate children flies in the face of what many of even the most well-intentioned parents do in praising good behavior, responding to bad behavior, and communicating their values.
By
age 2, children experience some moral emotions — feelings triggered by
right and wrong. To reinforce caring as the right behavior, research indicates,
praise is more effective than rewards. Rewards run the risk of leading
children to be kind only when a carrot is offered, whereas praise
communicates that sharing is intrinsically worthwhile for its own sake.
But what kind of praise should we give when our children show early
signs of generosity?
Many
parents believe it’s important to compliment the behavior, not the
child — that way, the child learns to repeat the behavior. Indeed, I
know one couple who are careful to say, “That was such a helpful thing
to do,” instead of, “You’re a helpful person.”
But is that the right approach? In a clever experiment,
the researchers Joan E. Grusec and Erica Redler set out to investigate
what happens when we commend generous behavior versus generous
character. After 7- and 8-year-olds won marbles and donated some to poor
children, the experimenter remarked, “Gee, you shared quite a bit.”
The
researchers randomly assigned the children to receive different types
of praise. For some of the children, they praised the action: “It was
good that you gave some of your marbles to those poor children. Yes,
that was a nice and helpful thing to do.” For others, they praised the
character behind the action: “I guess you’re the kind of person who
likes to help others whenever you can. Yes, you are a very nice and
helpful person.”
A
couple of weeks later, when faced with more opportunities to give and
share, the children were much more generous after their character had
been praised than after their actions had been. Praising their character
helped them internalize it as part of their identities. The children
learned who they were from observing their own actions: I am a helpful
person. This dovetails with new research led by the psychologist
Christopher J. Bryan, who finds that for moral behaviors, nouns work
better than verbs. To get 3- to 6-year-olds to help with a task, rather than inviting them “to help,” it was 22 to 29 percent more effective to encourage them to “be a helper.” Cheating was cut in half
when instead of, “Please don’t cheat,” participants were told, “Please
don’t be a cheater.” When our actions become a reflection of our
character, we lean more heavily toward the moral and generous choices.
Over time it can become part of us.
***
Praise
in response to good behavior may be half the battle, but our responses
to bad behavior have consequences, too. When children cause harm, they
typically feel one of two moral emotions: shame or guilt. Despite the
common belief that these emotions are interchangeable, research led by the psychologist June Price Tangney reveals that they have very different causes and consequences.
Shame
is the feeling that I am a bad person, whereas guilt is the feeling
that I have done a bad thing. Shame is a negative judgment about the
core self, which is devastating: Shame makes children feel small and
worthless, and they respond either by lashing out at the target or
escaping the situation altogether. In contrast, guilt is a negative
judgment about an action, which can be repaired by good behavior. When
children feel guilt, they tend to experience remorse and regret,
empathize with the person they have harmed, and aim to make it right.
In one study spearheaded by the psychologist Karen Caplovitz Barrett,
parents rated their toddlers’ tendencies to experience shame and guilt
at home. The toddlers received a rag doll, and the leg fell off while
they were playing with it alone. The shame-prone toddlers avoided the
researcher and did not volunteer that they broke the doll. The
guilt-prone toddlers were more likely to fix the doll, approach the
experimenter, and explain what happened. The ashamed toddlers were
avoiders; the guilty toddlers were amenders.
If we want our children to care about others, we need to teach them to feel guilt rather than shame when they misbehave. In a review of research on emotions and moral development,
the psychologist Nancy Eisenberg suggests that shame emerges when
parents express anger, withdraw their love, or try to assert their power
through threats of punishment: Children may begin to believe that they
are bad people. Fearing this effect, some parents fail to exercise discipline at all, which can hinder the development of strong moral standards.
The most effective response to bad behavior is to express disappointment. According to independent reviews by Professor Eisenberg and David R. Shaffer,
parents raise caring children by expressing disappointment and
explaining why the behavior was wrong, how it affected others, and how
they can rectify the situation. This enables children to develop
standards for judging their actions, feelings of empathy and
responsibility for others, and a sense of moral identity, which are conducive to becoming a helpful person.
The beauty of expressing disappointment is that it communicates
disapproval of the bad behavior, coupled with high expectations and the
potential for improvement: “You’re a good person, even if you did a bad
thing, and I know you can do better.”
***
As
powerful as it is to criticize bad behavior and praise good character,
raising a generous child involves more than waiting for opportunities to
react to the actions of our children. As parents, we want to be
proactive in communicating our values to our children. Yet many of us do
this the wrong way.
In a classic experiment,
the psychologist J. Philippe Rushton gave 140 elementary- and
middle-school-age children tokens for winning a game, which they could
keep entirely or donate some to a child in poverty. They first watched a
teacher figure play the game either selfishly or generously, and then
preach to them the value of taking, giving or neither. The adult’s
influence was significant: Actions spoke louder than words. When the
adult behaved selfishly, children followed suit. The words didn’t make
much difference — children gave fewer tokens after observing the adult’s
selfish actions, regardless of whether the adult verbally advocated
selfishness or generosity. When the adult acted generously, students
gave the same amount whether generosity was preached or not — they
donated 85 percent more than the norm in both cases. When the adult
preached selfishness, even after the adult acted generously, the
students still gave 49 percent more than the norm. Children learn
generosity not by listening to what their role models say, but by
observing what they do.
To
test whether these role-modeling effects persisted over time, two
months later researchers observed the children playing the game again.
Would the modeling or the preaching influence whether the children gave —
and would they even remember it from two months earlier?
The
most generous children were those who watched the teacher give but not
say anything. Two months later, these children were 31 percent more
generous than those who observed the same behavior but also heard it
preached.
People often believe that character causes action, but when it comes to
producing moral children, we need to remember that action also shapes
character.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
hamsters anyone?
After taking in the incredible minute-and-a-half of adorable that was “Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Burritos,” we are all collectively drooling from our mouths wanting more tiny hamsters doing more tiny hamster stuff.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Will Ferrell vs. Chad Smith
not really a huge fan, but I thought this was noteworthy (and kind of funny)
Thursday, May 22, 2014
the happiest country
Paraguay is the happiest country in
the world, with 87 percent of residents scoring high on an index of
positive emotions, according to the latest Gallup poll on well-being.
Not surprisingly, Syria, suffering through a civil war, is the unhappiest and people there are so badly off they’ve hit a new low, the survey finds.
Overall, 70 percent of
adults worldwide say they are frequently laughing, smiling or enjoying
themselves. The United States comes in the top one-quarter, with a
happiness score of 78, the same as Chile, Argentina and Sweden.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Ted Talks: Life Hack
[5/21/14]
is going away from Netflix, but (I assume) you'll still be able watch in on youtube and on the TED website.
However there are no captions on the youtube videos, so I'll hunt down the TED videos
1 - Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
2 - Jane McGonigal: The game that give you 10 extra years of your life
3 - Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work
4 - Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do
5 - Derek Sivers: How to Start a Movement
6 - Terry Moore: How to Tie Your Shoes
7 - Sheena Iyengar: How to Make Choosing Easier
8 - Andy Puddicombe: All It Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes
*** [2/25/16]
Well it came back, but is going away again next month.
They added two more episodes to Life Hacks
9 - Arianna Huffington: How to Succeed? Get More Sleep
10 - David Pogue: 10 Top Time-Saving Tech Tips
Teamplayer2345 made this playlist
This time, it came back with Life Hack 2: The Next Level
1. Nigel Martin: How to Make Work-Life Balance
2. Margaret Heffernan: Dare to Disagree
3. Ruth Chang: How to Make Hard Choices
4. Julian Treasure: How to Speak so that people want to listen
5. Emily Balcetis: Why Some People Find Exercise harder than ever
6. David Grady: How to Save the World (Or at least yourself) from bad meetings
7. Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing that you can improve
8. Jeff Iliff: One More Reason to Get a Good Night's sleep
9. Kare Anderson: Ben an Opportunity Maker
10. Isabel Allende: How to Live Passionately no matter your age
playlist created by kerry Hokanson (who made a lot more playlists)
and here's a list of the Ted Talks that were previously on Netflix (way back when there were only eight Life Hacks :) (wow somebody's even more anal than me... :)
Ted Talks: Head Games looks like another interesting one
[3/12/16] OK finished watching Life Hack 2. Now starting to watch Best of TedX. There's a playlist with that title on youtube, but it's not the same videos. OK, write them down
1. Larry Smith: Why You Will Faile to Have a Gr
2. Dave Meslin: The Antidote to Apathy
3. Timothy Prestero: Design for People, Not A
4. Luis von Ahn: Massive-scale Online Collabo
5. Steve Kell: A Manifesto to Play, for Bularia
6. Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with Non-Violence
7. David R. Dow: Lessons from Death Row Inm...
8. Jonas Gahr Store: In Defense of Dialogue
9. Tal Golesworthy: How I Repaired My Own H...
10. Mikko Hypponen: Three Types of Online Att
11. Stephen Coleman: The Moral Dangers of N...
12. Nimalya Kumar: India's Invisible Innovation
13. Simon Shank: How Great Leaders Inspire A...
14. Susan Colantunon: The Career Advice You...
15. Dan Ariely: What Makes Us Feel Good Abo...
16. Young-ha Kim: Be an Artist, Right Now!
17. Stella Young: I'm Not Your Inspiration, Than...
18. Dan Pacholke: How Prisons Can Help Inm...
19. Talithia Williams: Own Your Body's Data
20. Megan Washington: Why I Live in Mortal Dr...
21. Ge Wang: The DIY Orchestra of the Future
22. Lorrie Faith Cranor: What's Wrong with You...
Here's another good list by some notable people
is going away from Netflix, but (I assume) you'll still be able watch in on youtube and on the TED website.
However there are no captions on the youtube videos, so I'll hunt down the TED videos
1 - Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
2 - Jane McGonigal: The game that give you 10 extra years of your life
3 - Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work
4 - Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do
5 - Derek Sivers: How to Start a Movement
6 - Terry Moore: How to Tie Your Shoes
7 - Sheena Iyengar: How to Make Choosing Easier
8 - Andy Puddicombe: All It Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes
*** [2/25/16]
Well it came back, but is going away again next month.
They added two more episodes to Life Hacks
9 - Arianna Huffington: How to Succeed? Get More Sleep
10 - David Pogue: 10 Top Time-Saving Tech Tips
Teamplayer2345 made this playlist
This time, it came back with Life Hack 2: The Next Level
1. Nigel Martin: How to Make Work-Life Balance
2. Margaret Heffernan: Dare to Disagree
3. Ruth Chang: How to Make Hard Choices
4. Julian Treasure: How to Speak so that people want to listen
5. Emily Balcetis: Why Some People Find Exercise harder than ever
6. David Grady: How to Save the World (Or at least yourself) from bad meetings
7. Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing that you can improve
8. Jeff Iliff: One More Reason to Get a Good Night's sleep
9. Kare Anderson: Ben an Opportunity Maker
10. Isabel Allende: How to Live Passionately no matter your age
playlist created by kerry Hokanson (who made a lot more playlists)
and here's a list of the Ted Talks that were previously on Netflix (way back when there were only eight Life Hacks :) (wow somebody's even more anal than me... :)
Ted Talks: Head Games looks like another interesting one
[3/12/16] OK finished watching Life Hack 2. Now starting to watch Best of TedX. There's a playlist with that title on youtube, but it's not the same videos. OK, write them down
1. Larry Smith: Why You Will Faile to Have a Gr
2. Dave Meslin: The Antidote to Apathy
3. Timothy Prestero: Design for People, Not A
4. Luis von Ahn: Massive-scale Online Collabo
5. Steve Kell: A Manifesto to Play, for Bularia
6. Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with Non-Violence
7. David R. Dow: Lessons from Death Row Inm...
8. Jonas Gahr Store: In Defense of Dialogue
9. Tal Golesworthy: How I Repaired My Own H...
10. Mikko Hypponen: Three Types of Online Att
11. Stephen Coleman: The Moral Dangers of N...
12. Nimalya Kumar: India's Invisible Innovation
13. Simon Shank: How Great Leaders Inspire A...
14. Susan Colantunon: The Career Advice You...
15. Dan Ariely: What Makes Us Feel Good Abo...
16. Young-ha Kim: Be an Artist, Right Now!
17. Stella Young: I'm Not Your Inspiration, Than...
18. Dan Pacholke: How Prisons Can Help Inm...
19. Talithia Williams: Own Your Body's Data
20. Megan Washington: Why I Live in Mortal Dr...
21. Ge Wang: The DIY Orchestra of the Future
22. Lorrie Faith Cranor: What's Wrong with You...
Here's another good list by some notable people
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Pat Sajak, who knew?
It’s hardly news that “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is an ardent conservative. He wrote, for instance, several articles
with headlines like “Opposed to Obamacare? Then You Must Be a Racist”
for the website Human Events between 2007 and 2013. But his latest
rhetorical flourish is the most bizarre yet.
Sajak’s unhinged denialism — throwing wild allegations of racism
against the overwhelming majority of scientists, for instance — exists
only within the context of his own Twitter feed and writing online,
where he’s perpetually making purposefully incendiary remarks wildly at odds with his sunny on-air personality.
But Sajak’s hardly alone as a prominent conservative who saves his vitriol for the off-air hours.
Alex Trebek, of “Jeopardy!.” made allusions, in a recent New Republic profile, to beliefs including, of the Tea Party, that “There are a lot of people out there who are not happy with the way things are going, and they’ve banded together,” though he described himself as apolitical even despite having hosted a 2010 Republican fundraiser.
Drew Carey, of “The Price is Right,” has been an outspoken libertarian since his sitcom-actor days, telling Reason magazine: “As far as your personal goals are and what you actually want to do with your life, it should never have to do with the government. You should never depend on the government for your retirement, your financial security, for anything.”
Bob Barker is better-known for his animal advocacy than for his endorsement of conservative lobbyist David Jolly in last year’s House special election in Florida.
Chuck Woolery, the original host of “Wheel of Fortune,” is as active as his successor on Twitter and has written for the Washington Times.
But is it that surprising these fellows trend towards conservatism? For one thing, they’re older, affluent white men — a group that, outside of Hollywood, doesn’t vote Democratic, at least not lately. And these men are as outside-of-Hollywood as you can get while still being paid to be on camera.
***
Meanwhile, The Huffington Post can't help adding,
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just announced that April 2014 tied for the warmest April on record. Last month was also the 350th consecutive month with global average temperates at or above the 20th century average.
Recent reports from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U.S. government's own National Climate Assessment and a recent report from retired U.S. military leadership all echo what has been well-understood for at least 50 years: Human beings have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, trapping more heat, acidifying the oceans and altering normal weather patterns.
[5/21/14]
So should Sajak's tweet be taken as an indication that he has continued studying the matter, finally made up his mind, and decided to join the name-calling?
Well, no. His spokesman tells CBS News it was just a joke.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Sajak said, "Of course I was joking. Just mocking the name-calling that is directed at global warming skeptics within and without the scientific community."
Looking at other tweets in his Twitter feed, it's obvious that Sajak doesn't always take things too seriously. In the past week, he's posted humorous comments on issues ranging from the Tooth Fairy to the debate between paper or plastic, and presidential birth certificates.
@patsajak
[on twitter] I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night.
But Sajak’s hardly alone as a prominent conservative who saves his vitriol for the off-air hours.
Alex Trebek, of “Jeopardy!.” made allusions, in a recent New Republic profile, to beliefs including, of the Tea Party, that “There are a lot of people out there who are not happy with the way things are going, and they’ve banded together,” though he described himself as apolitical even despite having hosted a 2010 Republican fundraiser.
Drew Carey, of “The Price is Right,” has been an outspoken libertarian since his sitcom-actor days, telling Reason magazine: “As far as your personal goals are and what you actually want to do with your life, it should never have to do with the government. You should never depend on the government for your retirement, your financial security, for anything.”
Bob Barker is better-known for his animal advocacy than for his endorsement of conservative lobbyist David Jolly in last year’s House special election in Florida.
Chuck Woolery, the original host of “Wheel of Fortune,” is as active as his successor on Twitter and has written for the Washington Times.
But is it that surprising these fellows trend towards conservatism? For one thing, they’re older, affluent white men — a group that, outside of Hollywood, doesn’t vote Democratic, at least not lately. And these men are as outside-of-Hollywood as you can get while still being paid to be on camera.
***
Meanwhile, The Huffington Post can't help adding,
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just announced that April 2014 tied for the warmest April on record. Last month was also the 350th consecutive month with global average temperates at or above the 20th century average.
Recent reports from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U.S. government's own National Climate Assessment and a recent report from retired U.S. military leadership all echo what has been well-understood for at least 50 years: Human beings have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, trapping more heat, acidifying the oceans and altering normal weather patterns.
[5/21/14]
So should Sajak's tweet be taken as an indication that he has continued studying the matter, finally made up his mind, and decided to join the name-calling?
Well, no. His spokesman tells CBS News it was just a joke.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Sajak said, "Of course I was joking. Just mocking the name-calling that is directed at global warming skeptics within and without the scientific community."
Looking at other tweets in his Twitter feed, it's obvious that Sajak doesn't always take things too seriously. In the past week, he's posted humorous comments on issues ranging from the Tooth Fairy to the debate between paper or plastic, and presidential birth certificates.
@patsajak
Monday, May 19, 2014
Michael Jackson returns
Although there were nearly 20 A-list performances at the 2014 Billboard Music
Awards, it was the late Michael
Jackson who garnered the biggest cheer of the evening at the MGM
Grand Garden Arena in Las
Vegas.
A computer-generated performance of the King of Pop dancing and singing a new song, Slave to the Rhythm, off his posthumous album Xscape prompted an emotional standing ovation from the crowd.
A computer-generated performance of the King of Pop dancing and singing a new song, Slave to the Rhythm, off his posthumous album Xscape prompted an emotional standing ovation from the crowd.
Xscape,
released on May 2, features eight previously unreleased songs from Jackson
that were recorded between 1983 and 1999.
***
It certainly wasn’t easy to get Michael back to the stage five years after his passing though. According to Billboard, it took “nearly half a year of planning, choreography and filming,” along with the development of new technology.
Technology that the company, Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd., which is responsible for creating the Tupac hologram, said it was actually theirs.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd. sued Jackson’s estate and producers of the awards show Thursday (May 15) in a Nevada federal court, but the judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to show that “the planned 3-D image would violate patents held by Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd.”
(MIchael Jackson VEVO)
Love Never Felt So Good (with Justin Timberlake)
***
It certainly wasn’t easy to get Michael back to the stage five years after his passing though. According to Billboard, it took “nearly half a year of planning, choreography and filming,” along with the development of new technology.
Technology that the company, Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd., which is responsible for creating the Tupac hologram, said it was actually theirs.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd. sued Jackson’s estate and producers of the awards show Thursday (May 15) in a Nevada federal court, but the judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to show that “the planned 3-D image would violate patents held by Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd.”
(MIchael Jackson VEVO)
Love Never Felt So Good (with Justin Timberlake)
Saturday, May 17, 2014
exercise hazardous to your health?
Two studies in the British journal Heart add new evidence to the case that extreme amounts of exercise may be detrimental to health.
One study followed 1,038 patients with heart disease for 10 years and found that those who vigorously exercised daily were more than twice as likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than those who exercised only two to four days a week, while those who exercised rarely or never had the worst outcomes.
That finding is startling because current medical recommendations call for heart-disease patients (like everyone else) to exercise five to seven days a week. Those recommendations aren't likely to change on the basis of a single study, especially one drawn from potentially unreliable patient reports of how much they exercise.
The second study adds to already substantial evidence that endurance exercise increases the risk of atrial fibrillation, a generally non-life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia that greatly increases the risk of stroke. This finding parallels that of a previous study that found a 74% increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation in men younger than 50 who exercised vigorously five to seven days a week.
The two studies will intensify debate within sports medicine about the health implications of endurance athletics such as serial marathon running. By all accounts, exercise at low to moderate levels confers dramatic protection from disease of nearly every kind, and many studies suggest that greater amounts deliver greater benefits.
One study followed 1,038 patients with heart disease for 10 years and found that those who vigorously exercised daily were more than twice as likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than those who exercised only two to four days a week, while those who exercised rarely or never had the worst outcomes.
That finding is startling because current medical recommendations call for heart-disease patients (like everyone else) to exercise five to seven days a week. Those recommendations aren't likely to change on the basis of a single study, especially one drawn from potentially unreliable patient reports of how much they exercise.
The second study adds to already substantial evidence that endurance exercise increases the risk of atrial fibrillation, a generally non-life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia that greatly increases the risk of stroke. This finding parallels that of a previous study that found a 74% increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation in men younger than 50 who exercised vigorously five to seven days a week.
The two studies will intensify debate within sports medicine about the health implications of endurance athletics such as serial marathon running. By all accounts, exercise at low to moderate levels confers dramatic protection from disease of nearly every kind, and many studies suggest that greater amounts deliver greater benefits.
Friday, May 16, 2014
give it up
Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore.
1. Give up your need to always be right
There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control
Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame
Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk
Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs
about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining
Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism
Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others
Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change
Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels
Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears
Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses
Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. Give up the past
I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment
This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations
Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
1. Give up your need to always be right
There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control
Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame
Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk
Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs
about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining
Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism
Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others
Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change
Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels
Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears
Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses
Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. Give up the past
I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment
This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations
Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
Here
is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your
life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things
that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead
of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free
and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. - See more at:
http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/15-things-you-should-give-up-to-be-happy/#sthash.sc2lHJca.u9xUeLdg.dpuf
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
bananas are better than pills
They're often the fruit of choice for athletes looking to boost their
electrolyte levels and get a quick energy boost, but bananas are a whole
lot more than just a sweet treat or a pleasant addition to a morning
smoothie. Rich in vitamins, minerals and other beneficial compounds,
bananas can also serve as a natural remedy for treating depression,
promoting regularity, boosting brain power and calming the nerves, among
other important functions within the body. (Natural News)
Friday, May 09, 2014
The Marvel Universe
*** 5/10/14
The organization is no more, but “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” isn’t going anywhere.
After a topsy-turvy first season that comes to a close next week, ABC has officially put in the order for a second season of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” which follows the small-screen exploits of miraculously revived Agent Phil Coulson and his carefully selected band of spies.
On top of that, ABC is doubling down on the Marvel game, and making the rumors official: “Agent Carter,” based on the Marvel One-Shot of the same name starring Hayley Atwell as “Captain America” heroine Peggy Carter, has been ordered straight to series.
In their rundown of the news, The Hollywood Reporter states that “Agent Carter” will function as “a short-order series and likely used as a ‘bridge show’ to air during the second season hiatus of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, with both series ultimately being tied-in together.”
But enough speculating. Here are the facts: “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is coming back, “Agent Carter” is on the way, and there are still five other Marvel shows in the works, to premiere on Netflix. Not a bad time to be a Marvel fan at all.
[links from this story]
the 25 most powerful superheroes
why you should be worried about the new flash series
movies we can't wait to see in 2015
7 superhero facts you didn't know (probably)
real life inspirations behind comic book villains
10 forgotten superhero movies and why you should watch them
12 movies so bad that they are actually funny
*** 5/9/14
Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films produced by Marvel Studios, set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They are included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases, and are not included on the DVDs. Each film, which range from 4-14 minutes, is designed to be a self-contained story that provides more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films.
The Consultant
A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Thor's Hammer
Item 47
Agent Carter
All Hail The King
The organization is no more, but “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” isn’t going anywhere.
After a topsy-turvy first season that comes to a close next week, ABC has officially put in the order for a second season of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” which follows the small-screen exploits of miraculously revived Agent Phil Coulson and his carefully selected band of spies.
On top of that, ABC is doubling down on the Marvel game, and making the rumors official: “Agent Carter,” based on the Marvel One-Shot of the same name starring Hayley Atwell as “Captain America” heroine Peggy Carter, has been ordered straight to series.
In their rundown of the news, The Hollywood Reporter states that “Agent Carter” will function as “a short-order series and likely used as a ‘bridge show’ to air during the second season hiatus of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, with both series ultimately being tied-in together.”
But enough speculating. Here are the facts: “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is coming back, “Agent Carter” is on the way, and there are still five other Marvel shows in the works, to premiere on Netflix. Not a bad time to be a Marvel fan at all.
[links from this story]
the 25 most powerful superheroes
why you should be worried about the new flash series
movies we can't wait to see in 2015
7 superhero facts you didn't know (probably)
real life inspirations behind comic book villains
10 forgotten superhero movies and why you should watch them
12 movies so bad that they are actually funny
*** 5/9/14
Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films produced by Marvel Studios, set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They are included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases, and are not included on the DVDs. Each film, which range from 4-14 minutes, is designed to be a self-contained story that provides more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films.
The Consultant
A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Thor's Hammer
Item 47
Agent Carter
All Hail The King
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
scientifically proven methods to overcome procrastination
I guess I'll read the article later..
... later that day ...
OK, it was a video with some tips.
1) organize your to-do list by task importance
2) set time limits for yourself
3) get rid of distractions
4) create a reward system when you complete big tasks
5) break down bigger tasks into smaller portions
6) single task rather than multi-task
7) save your most exciting task for last
*** see also
accomplish more
managing your time
GTD (Getting Things Done)
It's About Time
... later that day ...
OK, it was a video with some tips.
1) organize your to-do list by task importance
2) set time limits for yourself
3) get rid of distractions
4) create a reward system when you complete big tasks
5) break down bigger tasks into smaller portions
6) single task rather than multi-task
7) save your most exciting task for last
*** see also
accomplish more
managing your time
GTD (Getting Things Done)
It's About Time
Tuesday, May 06, 2014
turning garbage into homes
Gregory Kloehn goes dumpster diving, but not for the reason that most people would think. He isn’t homeless. In fact, he is an artist from Oakland that is trying to help the homeless and develop his craft at the same time.
Instead of building sculptures that he would sell to rich people to add to their massive homes, he decided to focus his efforts on helping house the homeless population in California.
[via facebook]
Instead of building sculptures that he would sell to rich people to add to their massive homes, he decided to focus his efforts on helping house the homeless population in California.
[via facebook]
Monday, May 05, 2014
accomplish more
Would you believe me if I said the secret to my success was working less?
Our society is addicted to doing more, becoming hyper-productive, and getting an insane amount of stuff done.
Many CEOs wake up at dawn and work 16-hour days. Just look at the productivity industry.
We hire consultants and buy timesaving software and gadgets. We research life hacks and read one productivity book after another.
If we could find a way to function optimally on two hours of sleep every night, we would do it.
But in my case, working less — not more — helped me to build a second business that ended up being more successful than my first.
There’s an increasingly popular philosophy called “essentialism”. According to author and researcher Greg McKeown, essentialism is the disciplined pursuit of doing fewer things better.
It’s giving up the trivial many for the vital few.
You can also think of the Pareto principle or the “80-20 rule,” which is the observation that 80 percent of outcomes come from 20 percent of inputs. The key is figuring out which 20 percent is actually effective and getting rid of the rest.
This is especially relevant to entrepreneurs who are already successful. Believe it or not, success gets in the way of greater success.
When you’re just starting out, distractions are few. Focus is relatively easy because you don’t have a lot going on. Opportunities aren’t knocking down your door.
As you become successful, more opportunities come, but only a few of those actually move the needle.
This is when you need to free up your time again and focus on what really matters so you can jump to the next level of success. Stumbling upon this lesson when I was running my first business enabled me to grow a more successful secondbusiness.
Our society is addicted to doing more, becoming hyper-productive, and getting an insane amount of stuff done.
Many CEOs wake up at dawn and work 16-hour days. Just look at the productivity industry.
We hire consultants and buy timesaving software and gadgets. We research life hacks and read one productivity book after another.
If we could find a way to function optimally on two hours of sleep every night, we would do it.
But in my case, working less — not more — helped me to build a second business that ended up being more successful than my first.
There’s an increasingly popular philosophy called “essentialism”. According to author and researcher Greg McKeown, essentialism is the disciplined pursuit of doing fewer things better.
It’s giving up the trivial many for the vital few.
You can also think of the Pareto principle or the “80-20 rule,” which is the observation that 80 percent of outcomes come from 20 percent of inputs. The key is figuring out which 20 percent is actually effective and getting rid of the rest.
This is especially relevant to entrepreneurs who are already successful. Believe it or not, success gets in the way of greater success.
When you’re just starting out, distractions are few. Focus is relatively easy because you don’t have a lot going on. Opportunities aren’t knocking down your door.
As you become successful, more opportunities come, but only a few of those actually move the needle.
This is when you need to free up your time again and focus on what really matters so you can jump to the next level of success. Stumbling upon this lesson when I was running my first business enabled me to grow a more successful secondbusiness.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Star Wars VII: return of the cast
At long last, Disney, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams have unveiled the cast of "Star Wars:
Episode VII." Original stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie
Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker will be joined
by Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis,
Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Comics History 101 (from IGN)
09/26/12 - Captain America 2: who is the Winter Soldier?
03/14/13 - Who are the Guardian's of the Galaxy?
09/20/13 - Who Is Ultron?
11/8/13 - Thor 2 easter egg explained
12/6/13 - Who is Jessica Jones?
12/20/13 - Who is X-Men's Apocalypse?
01/28/14 - Who is Ant-Man?
2/5/14 - X-Men: Days of Future Past Explained
2/20/14 - Wonder Woman Explained
3/14/14 - Who is the Vision?
3/26/14 - Captain America: The Winter Solstice easter egg explained
4/16/14 - Who are the Sinister Six?
4/25/14 - Who is Dr. Strange?
Here's the youtube playlist.
03/14/13 - Who are the Guardian's of the Galaxy?
09/20/13 - Who Is Ultron?
11/8/13 - Thor 2 easter egg explained
12/6/13 - Who is Jessica Jones?
12/20/13 - Who is X-Men's Apocalypse?
01/28/14 - Who is Ant-Man?
2/5/14 - X-Men: Days of Future Past Explained
2/20/14 - Wonder Woman Explained
3/14/14 - Who is the Vision?
3/26/14 - Captain America: The Winter Solstice easter egg explained
4/16/14 - Who are the Sinister Six?
4/25/14 - Who is Dr. Strange?
Here's the youtube playlist.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Tom Shadyac and Happy
I thought I blogged about this earlier, but I don't see it so here goes.
Shadyac was the director of movies such as Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty. But then had a bicycle accident that changed his life.
He sold his possessions and made the documentary I Am (available on Netflix, hulu, snagfilms).
I remember learning about him on Oprah.
Anyway, I went searching for my blog entry (that apparently never existed) as I was watching the movie Happy on Netflix (also available on Hulu and HitBliss/Amazon.com) and saw that Shadyac was involved. I thought he might have created the movie, but looking it up, he was one of the producers.
Here's the wikipedia description.
Happy is a 2011 feature documentary film directed, written, and co-produced by Academy Award nominated film-maker Roko Belic. It explores human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 different countries, weaving in the newest findings of positive psychology.
Director Roko Belic was originally inspired to create the film after producer/director Tom Shadyac (Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty) showed him an article in the New York Times entitled "A New Measure of Well Being From a Happy Little Kingdom" [which talks about Bhutan]. The article ranks the United States as the 23rd happiest country in the world. Shadyac then suggested that Belic make a documentary about happiness. Belic spent several years interviewing over 20 people, ranging from leading happiness researchers to a rickshaw driver in Kolkatta, a family living in a cohousing community in Denmark, a woman who was run over by a truck, a Cajun fisherman, and more.
Shadyac was the director of movies such as Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty. But then had a bicycle accident that changed his life.
He sold his possessions and made the documentary I Am (available on Netflix, hulu, snagfilms).
I remember learning about him on Oprah.
Anyway, I went searching for my blog entry (that apparently never existed) as I was watching the movie Happy on Netflix (also available on Hulu and HitBliss/Amazon.com) and saw that Shadyac was involved. I thought he might have created the movie, but looking it up, he was one of the producers.
Here's the wikipedia description.
Happy is a 2011 feature documentary film directed, written, and co-produced by Academy Award nominated film-maker Roko Belic. It explores human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 different countries, weaving in the newest findings of positive psychology.
Director Roko Belic was originally inspired to create the film after producer/director Tom Shadyac (Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty) showed him an article in the New York Times entitled "A New Measure of Well Being From a Happy Little Kingdom" [which talks about Bhutan]. The article ranks the United States as the 23rd happiest country in the world. Shadyac then suggested that Belic make a documentary about happiness. Belic spent several years interviewing over 20 people, ranging from leading happiness researchers to a rickshaw driver in Kolkatta, a family living in a cohousing community in Denmark, a woman who was run over by a truck, a Cajun fisherman, and more.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
boy flies from California to Hawaii
outside the plane!
Officials say a 16-year-old boy is “lucky to be alive” and unharmed after flying from California to Hawaii stowed away in a plane’s wheel well, surviving cold temperatures at 38,000 feet and a lack of oxygen.
“Doesn’t even remember the flight,” FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu told The Associated Press on Sunday night. “It’s amazing he survived that.”
The boy was questioned by the FBI after being discovered on the tarmac at the Maui airport Sunday morning with no identification, Simon said.
“Kid’s lucky to be alive,” Simon said.
Officials say a 16-year-old boy is “lucky to be alive” and unharmed after flying from California to Hawaii stowed away in a plane’s wheel well, surviving cold temperatures at 38,000 feet and a lack of oxygen.
“Doesn’t even remember the flight,” FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu told The Associated Press on Sunday night. “It’s amazing he survived that.”
The boy was questioned by the FBI after being discovered on the tarmac at the Maui airport Sunday morning with no identification, Simon said.
“Kid’s lucky to be alive,” Simon said.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Paul Shaffer was too busy
Paul Shaffer made a huge error in judgement when he said that he was
“too busy” to consider the role of George Costanza that Jerry Seinfeld
once handed to him on a silver platter.
The actor was not even required to audition for the part. One reason why the creators of “Seinfeld” were so fond of Shaffer for the role is because he looks so much like Larry David on whom the part is based.
He got a call from Seinfeld but never even called him back. Despite missing out on a role in the hugely successful sitcom, Shaffer has enjoyed a long career as David Letterman’s sidekick.
***
Will Smith was the first choice for the lead role in the incredibly successful sci-fi franchise “The Matrix.”
He says that he turned it down because he didn’t understand the movie and knew that he wouldn’t be able to give the role the respect it deserved.
Instead, Smith went on to star in the action comedy “Wild Wild West” and the role of Neo went to Keanu Reeves.
***
It seems like Harrison Ford was born to play Indiana Jones, but the role was originally intended to go to Tom Selleck who was a huge hit in “Magnum, P.I.” at the time.
The show was reluctant to let their star perform in a movie that was obviously destined to be a mega hit.
The moustached actor was forced to choose between the two roles and decided to honour his original commitment to the TV show.
The actor was not even required to audition for the part. One reason why the creators of “Seinfeld” were so fond of Shaffer for the role is because he looks so much like Larry David on whom the part is based.
He got a call from Seinfeld but never even called him back. Despite missing out on a role in the hugely successful sitcom, Shaffer has enjoyed a long career as David Letterman’s sidekick.
***
Will Smith was the first choice for the lead role in the incredibly successful sci-fi franchise “The Matrix.”
He says that he turned it down because he didn’t understand the movie and knew that he wouldn’t be able to give the role the respect it deserved.
Instead, Smith went on to star in the action comedy “Wild Wild West” and the role of Neo went to Keanu Reeves.
***
It seems like Harrison Ford was born to play Indiana Jones, but the role was originally intended to go to Tom Selleck who was a huge hit in “Magnum, P.I.” at the time.
The show was reluctant to let their star perform in a movie that was obviously destined to be a mega hit.
The moustached actor was forced to choose between the two roles and decided to honour his original commitment to the TV show.
Friday, April 11, 2014
David vs. Goliath (according to Gladwell)
first of all — the sling is one of the most feared weapons in ancient times. It's not a child's story. The rock that goes from David's sling has a stopping power that's equivalent to a bullet from a .38-caliber handgun. When David decided to bring a sling to a sword fight, he's got superior technology. He's not messing around here. He knows exactly what he's doing.
Second, Goliath probably had something called acromegaly, which is a condition where there's a tumor on your pituitary gland, and so your pituitary overproduces human growth hormone. And many of the great giants in history had acromegaly. André the Giant — the great wrestler — acromegaly. Tallest man in history — a guy named Robert Wadlow — had acromegaly. He was 7'11", I think. Acromegaly makes you really, really big and tall. It also comes with a side effect that the tumor starts to compress the optic nerves and radically diminish your vision.
And if you read the biblical story of Goliath very closely, it's clear the guy can't see. He's led onto the valley floor, much more than this, by an attendant. He's the mightiest warrior in Palestine and he has to have a boy lead him by the hand to the battlefield. And then there's this whole thing about it takes him forever to figure out where David is and what David is doing — because David comes down from the mountain and doesn't have a sword. Doesn't have a shield. Isn't wearing armor. Duh! He does not intend to fight you in a sword fight. Why does Goliath take forever to respond to this? Because he can't see him.
So, here you have a kid who is really fast moving, nimble, has superior technology. Has changed the rules of the conflict without telling his opponent and his opponent is largely blind. That is not the story of an underdog. David holds all the cards, properly understood.
*** [6/27/14]
Gladwell is the opposite of disagreeable,
the word he uses to describe many of the
underdogs chronicled in his new book, people
who overcame perceived disadvantages to
change their lives and the world. The word is
not meant to be a stigma but a way to identify
those people who, through means, motivation
and even hubris, managed to make their
mark in unusual and unorthodox ways.
These disagreeable folks include Gary
Cohn, the president and chief operating officer
of Goldman Sachs, who learned to use his verbal
skills and chutzpah to compensate for his
dyslexia; the Impressionist painters, who, after
mostly being rejected by the prestigious Salon
in Paris, started their own modest art gallery to
gain notoriety; Wyatt Walker, Martin Luther
King Jr.’s right-hand man, who knew how to
strategize and how to manipulate the media to
advance the cause of civil rights; and Emil
Freireich, the blustery, imposing doctor who
used unconventional and even controversial
means to battle childhood leukemia.
“Doing something disagreeable is doing
something that is frowned upon by your peers,
that is offensive to your peers and that requires
you as a person to take extraordinary social
risks,” Gladwell tells The Connection.
“Sometimes that strays into things that are
downright questionable. In Freireich’s case, he
was breaking lots of rules, but his argument
would’ve been the rules are dumb. In retrospect,
he was right. He also had to be coldblooded,
like when I tell the story about him
jabbing the needles into the kids to get the
bone marrow. It’s really hard to do. Most people
didn’t want to do it and were looking for
reasons not to do it. He didn’t let those kinds of
considerations get in the way of what he knew
had to be done, and I think that’s an
incredibly disagreeable act and an incredibly
heroic act at the same time. I think
he’s an extraordinary figure.”
The way Gladwell views the world is
refreshing. Whether he’s discussing how a
spontaneously strategic Vietnam vet beat a
highly prepared Pentagon team during pre-
Iraq war games in Blink, analyzing the time
and place factors that led to Bill Gates rising
to prominence in Outliers or chronicling
underdog ascensions in David and Goliath,
the author espouses clarity of thought, learning
to sift through and filter out the noise of
the world to focus on what is essential to one’s
life, and to perceive people and situations for
who and what they are rather than what one
thinks they are.
“I feel that people are experience-rich and
theory-poor,” asserts Gladwell. “That is to say,
most people have lots and lots and lots of
experiences but don’t have the time to try to
make sense of them. It’s a luxury to be able to
sit and theorize and read psychologists, sociologists
and historians and to attach explanations
to events. The reason people read books
like my own is that they’re searching for those
kinds of explanations, of ways of making sense
of things. There is this tremendous body of
knowledge in the world of academia where
extraordinary numbers of incredibly thoughtful
people have taken the time to examine on
a really profound level the way we live our lives
and who we are and where we’ve been. That
brilliant learning sometimes gets trapped in
academia and never sees the light of day. I’m
trying to give people access to all of that brilliant
thinking. It’s a way of going back to college
long after you’ve graduated.”
Ideas have always propelled Gladwell’s
writing, which is clear when interviewing
him. While some authors or intellectuals gesticulate
dramatically, he is rather soft-spoken
and thoughtful, but still passionate, in his
delivery, sometimes surreptitiously
fiddling with his utensils as we
await our meal. He quips
that if you think going to
a library is an exciting
event, you will probably
enjoy his books.
“I write for people
who are curious and
who don’t mind having
their beliefs challenged,”
he says. “I don’t shock
people’s belief systems, but I
do nudge them sometimes.
Some people are fine with that, and
those are my readers.” Several authors and columnists
have challenged assertions or claims in
his books, but that at least proves he knows how
to stimulate debate among his readers.
Has his work on all of his books given him
a new worldview or altered the one he has?
“The last three books in particular have made
me very suspicious of the way that all of us as
human beings react to the world,” the author
replies. “The assumptions that we carry around
in our head aren’t very good. Our first impressions
of things can sometimes be really terrible.
This book is basically about how we look at
situations and misread them.
-- Costco Connection, October 2013
Second, Goliath probably had something called acromegaly, which is a condition where there's a tumor on your pituitary gland, and so your pituitary overproduces human growth hormone. And many of the great giants in history had acromegaly. André the Giant — the great wrestler — acromegaly. Tallest man in history — a guy named Robert Wadlow — had acromegaly. He was 7'11", I think. Acromegaly makes you really, really big and tall. It also comes with a side effect that the tumor starts to compress the optic nerves and radically diminish your vision.
And if you read the biblical story of Goliath very closely, it's clear the guy can't see. He's led onto the valley floor, much more than this, by an attendant. He's the mightiest warrior in Palestine and he has to have a boy lead him by the hand to the battlefield. And then there's this whole thing about it takes him forever to figure out where David is and what David is doing — because David comes down from the mountain and doesn't have a sword. Doesn't have a shield. Isn't wearing armor. Duh! He does not intend to fight you in a sword fight. Why does Goliath take forever to respond to this? Because he can't see him.
So, here you have a kid who is really fast moving, nimble, has superior technology. Has changed the rules of the conflict without telling his opponent and his opponent is largely blind. That is not the story of an underdog. David holds all the cards, properly understood.
*** [6/27/14]
Gladwell is the opposite of disagreeable,
the word he uses to describe many of the
underdogs chronicled in his new book, people
who overcame perceived disadvantages to
change their lives and the world. The word is
not meant to be a stigma but a way to identify
those people who, through means, motivation
and even hubris, managed to make their
mark in unusual and unorthodox ways.
These disagreeable folks include Gary
Cohn, the president and chief operating officer
of Goldman Sachs, who learned to use his verbal
skills and chutzpah to compensate for his
dyslexia; the Impressionist painters, who, after
mostly being rejected by the prestigious Salon
in Paris, started their own modest art gallery to
gain notoriety; Wyatt Walker, Martin Luther
King Jr.’s right-hand man, who knew how to
strategize and how to manipulate the media to
advance the cause of civil rights; and Emil
Freireich, the blustery, imposing doctor who
used unconventional and even controversial
means to battle childhood leukemia.
“Doing something disagreeable is doing
something that is frowned upon by your peers,
that is offensive to your peers and that requires
you as a person to take extraordinary social
risks,” Gladwell tells The Connection.
“Sometimes that strays into things that are
downright questionable. In Freireich’s case, he
was breaking lots of rules, but his argument
would’ve been the rules are dumb. In retrospect,
he was right. He also had to be coldblooded,
like when I tell the story about him
jabbing the needles into the kids to get the
bone marrow. It’s really hard to do. Most people
didn’t want to do it and were looking for
reasons not to do it. He didn’t let those kinds of
considerations get in the way of what he knew
had to be done, and I think that’s an
incredibly disagreeable act and an incredibly
heroic act at the same time. I think
he’s an extraordinary figure.”
The way Gladwell views the world is
refreshing. Whether he’s discussing how a
spontaneously strategic Vietnam vet beat a
highly prepared Pentagon team during pre-
Iraq war games in Blink, analyzing the time
and place factors that led to Bill Gates rising
to prominence in Outliers or chronicling
underdog ascensions in David and Goliath,
the author espouses clarity of thought, learning
to sift through and filter out the noise of
the world to focus on what is essential to one’s
life, and to perceive people and situations for
who and what they are rather than what one
thinks they are.
“I feel that people are experience-rich and
theory-poor,” asserts Gladwell. “That is to say,
most people have lots and lots and lots of
experiences but don’t have the time to try to
make sense of them. It’s a luxury to be able to
sit and theorize and read psychologists, sociologists
and historians and to attach explanations
to events. The reason people read books
like my own is that they’re searching for those
kinds of explanations, of ways of making sense
of things. There is this tremendous body of
knowledge in the world of academia where
extraordinary numbers of incredibly thoughtful
people have taken the time to examine on
a really profound level the way we live our lives
and who we are and where we’ve been. That
brilliant learning sometimes gets trapped in
academia and never sees the light of day. I’m
trying to give people access to all of that brilliant
thinking. It’s a way of going back to college
long after you’ve graduated.”
Ideas have always propelled Gladwell’s
writing, which is clear when interviewing
him. While some authors or intellectuals gesticulate
dramatically, he is rather soft-spoken
and thoughtful, but still passionate, in his
delivery, sometimes surreptitiously
fiddling with his utensils as we
await our meal. He quips
that if you think going to
a library is an exciting
event, you will probably
enjoy his books.
“I write for people
who are curious and
who don’t mind having
their beliefs challenged,”
he says. “I don’t shock
people’s belief systems, but I
do nudge them sometimes.
Some people are fine with that, and
those are my readers.” Several authors and columnists
have challenged assertions or claims in
his books, but that at least proves he knows how
to stimulate debate among his readers.
Has his work on all of his books given him
a new worldview or altered the one he has?
“The last three books in particular have made
me very suspicious of the way that all of us as
human beings react to the world,” the author
replies. “The assumptions that we carry around
in our head aren’t very good. Our first impressions
of things can sometimes be really terrible.
This book is basically about how we look at
situations and misread them.
-- Costco Connection, October 2013
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Archie to be killed off
LOS ANGELES >> Not even Archie Andrews is immortal in the world of comics.
Archie Comics announced Tuesday that the famous comic book character will heroically sacrifice himself while saving the life of a friend in a July installment of "Life with Archie," a comic book series that tells the story of grown-up renditions of Archie and his Riverdale gang.
"We've been building up to this moment since we launched 'Life with Archie' five years ago and knew that any book that was telling the story of Archie's life as an adult had to also show his final moment," Archie Comics publisher and co-CEO Jon Goldwater said in a statement.
Archie's final moments will be detailed in "Life with Archie" No. 36, while issue No. 37 will jump forward a year and focus on his friends Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie honoring the legacy of their red-headed pal.
Archie first appeared in comics in 1941 and went on to become a colorful icon of wholesomeness.
Monday, April 07, 2014
Mickey Rooney
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mickey Rooney, the pint-size,
precocious actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned
silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom,
television and the Broadway theater, died Sunday at age 93.
Rooney started his career in his parents' vaudeville act while still a toddler, and broke into movies before age 10. He was still racking up film and TV credits more than 80 years later — a tenure likely unmatched in the history of show business.
"I always say, 'Don't retire — inspire,'" he told The Associated Press in March 2008. "There's a lot to be done."
Among his roles in recent years was a part as a guard in the smash 2006 comedy "A Night at the Museum."
Rooney won two special Academy Awards for his film achievements, and reigned from 1939 to 1942 as the No. 1 moneymaking star in movies, his run only broken when he joined the Army. At his peak, he was the incarnation of the show biz lifer, a shameless ham and hoofer whom one could imagine singing, dancing and wisecracking in his crib, his blond hair, big grin and constant motion a draw for millions. He later won an Emmy and was nominated for a Tony.
Rooney's peppy, all-American charm was never better matched than when he appeared opposite his friend and fellow child star Garland in such films as "Babes on Broadway" and "Strike up the Band," musicals built around a plot of "Let's put on a show!" One of them, the 1939 "Babes in Arms," brought him his first Oscar nomination. He was also in such dramas as "The Human Comedy," 1943, which gained Rooney his second Oscar nomination as best actor, and "National Velvet," 1944, with Elizabeth Taylor.
Rooney started his career in his parents' vaudeville act while still a toddler, and broke into movies before age 10. He was still racking up film and TV credits more than 80 years later — a tenure likely unmatched in the history of show business.
"I always say, 'Don't retire — inspire,'" he told The Associated Press in March 2008. "There's a lot to be done."
Among his roles in recent years was a part as a guard in the smash 2006 comedy "A Night at the Museum."
Rooney won two special Academy Awards for his film achievements, and reigned from 1939 to 1942 as the No. 1 moneymaking star in movies, his run only broken when he joined the Army. At his peak, he was the incarnation of the show biz lifer, a shameless ham and hoofer whom one could imagine singing, dancing and wisecracking in his crib, his blond hair, big grin and constant motion a draw for millions. He later won an Emmy and was nominated for a Tony.
Rooney's peppy, all-American charm was never better matched than when he appeared opposite his friend and fellow child star Garland in such films as "Babes on Broadway" and "Strike up the Band," musicals built around a plot of "Let's put on a show!" One of them, the 1939 "Babes in Arms," brought him his first Oscar nomination. He was also in such dramas as "The Human Comedy," 1943, which gained Rooney his second Oscar nomination as best actor, and "National Velvet," 1944, with Elizabeth Taylor.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
renting from Redbox
Trying to get this straight. Redbox requires you to return the DVD by 9 p.m. the day after you rented or you get charged an additional. So the trick is to rent as early in the day as possible to get the maximum rental time.
So if you rent at 12:01 a.m. Saturday Morning and return at 8:59 p.m. Sunday evening, you'll get nearly 45 hours of rental time.
Conversely the worst time to rent is just before midnight. So if you rent 11:59 p.m. Friday night, you'll have to return it at 9:00 pm. for a measly 21 hours of rental time, less than half than if you had waited a minute longer.
That's what it looks like to me anyway. Haven't actually tested this.
So if you rent at 12:01 a.m. Saturday Morning and return at 8:59 p.m. Sunday evening, you'll get nearly 45 hours of rental time.
Conversely the worst time to rent is just before midnight. So if you rent 11:59 p.m. Friday night, you'll have to return it at 9:00 pm. for a measly 21 hours of rental time, less than half than if you had waited a minute longer.
That's what it looks like to me anyway. Haven't actually tested this.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Eudaimonic Happiness
In their never-ending search for the best way to live, Greek philosophers argued over the relative benefits of hedonic and eudaimonic
happiness. Hedonic well-being sees happiness as a factor of increased
pleasure and decreased pain, while eudaimonic ("human flourishing")
happiness has more to do with having a larger purpose or meaning in
life. A recent study from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill psychologist Barbara Fredrickson may reveal which form of happiness is more beneficial for health and well-being.
The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last year, found that while both types of happiness can make you feel good, the latter could promote physical health and longevity as well. Using phone interviews, questionnaires and blood samples, the study explored how the two forms of happiness affected individuals on a genetic level. Participants with more hedonic and less eudaimonic well-being were found to have a lower production of virus-attacking antibodies, while those with more eudaimonic well-being experienced an increase in antibody production.
-- via roy
The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last year, found that while both types of happiness can make you feel good, the latter could promote physical health and longevity as well. Using phone interviews, questionnaires and blood samples, the study explored how the two forms of happiness affected individuals on a genetic level. Participants with more hedonic and less eudaimonic well-being were found to have a lower production of virus-attacking antibodies, while those with more eudaimonic well-being experienced an increase in antibody production.
-- via roy
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Changing the World
In 2006, Kellie O'Brien and her daughter, Heather, traveled to Africa to volunteer at a convent in Sanya Ju, Tanzania. With so much hardship around them, they felt impelled to give away much of the clothing and money they had with them. At the end of the day, however, they knew they had not made a lasting difference. When asked how they could, the sisters told them about a Massai man named Gabriel who had come to the convent for the last five years, asking for a school. Even then, Kellie O'Brien knew that her life was about to change.
[and more from Costco Magazine, December 2013]
[and more from Costco Magazine, December 2013]
Monday, February 24, 2014
Harold Ramis
The world of movies and the world of comedy has lost a legend as
actor and comedian Harold Ramis has died at the age of 69. The actor had
been suffering from a number of health issues in recent years and
finally succumbed to his battle with them on Monday.
Per the Chicago Tribune:
***
Reactions
[via facebook]
Per the Chicago Tribune:
Ramis, a longtime North Shore resident, was surrounded by family when he died at 12:53 a.m. from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels, his wife Erica Mann Ramis said. He was 69.Ramis is perhaps best known for his work in 80s comedies with his collaborators Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. The trio helped create some of the classic comedies we revere today such as Ghostbusters, Caddyshack and Stripes. He also has writing credits on such classics as Animal House, Meatballs and Groundhog Day.
***
Reactions
[via facebook]
Saturday, February 22, 2014
10 Obvious Truths
well, maybe not so obvious (or obvious after the fact)
You know how you can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it finally gets to you? The ten truths listed below fall firmly into that category - life lessons that many of us learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven't fully grasped.
-- via facebook
You know how you can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it finally gets to you? The ten truths listed below fall firmly into that category - life lessons that many of us learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven't fully grasped.
-- via facebook
Friday, February 21, 2014
The Country Doctor weighs in
The 1909 film Country Doctor was a tear-jerker in which a small-town American physician was torn between staying bedside with his gravely ill daughter and helping others who equally needed his services.
That brings me to the story of Marc Shlachter, M.D., self-styled “Country Doctor” of Hauula and Laie. Very small-town American doctor.
He’s from Cleveland (where I was born and lived through age 7), and if you’re curious how he came here, it’s pretty simple:
“From watching the 1961 movie Gidget Goes Hawaiian at a high school graduation party.”
I’ve known the doc since he came to Hauula 43 years ago and I lived in Punaluu, when he had to dump the usual doctor’s exam table and use a butcher’s block to handle his weighty, mostly Polynesian patients. When he got paid in taro, fish, chickens and cooked food. Was inaugurated as a Samoan chief. When he married a local Filipina and raised two children, divorced, married again to a woman from Japan, who now manages his office and his money – the latter being what he’s worst at.
Wherever you go with him in Hauula-Laie, people shout, “Hey, Dr. Shlachter!” The Chinese restaurant in Laie Shopping Center carries a vegetarian “Dr. Shlachter Special.”
I was curious what the Country Doctor, who was featured on MidWeek‘s cover back in 1994, thinks about Obamacare and the limits on Medicare reimbursements. And what does this physician with so many patients who will never access HealthCare.gov on the Internet think of the state of our health care system?
“The premise that every American should have health coverage should be a right,” Shlachter says. “The changes that already exist are very good, such as a child staying under the parents’ plan through age 26. And that physical exams and wellness checks are a covered service.
“I believe the country would be much better off with a universal payer like Medicare for everyone, with the federal government or the state contributing to the premiums for indigents. Having multiple insurance companies competing with each other drives up the cost – for example, the five Quest insurers here for indigents.
“The argument that mandatory health care insurance is a form of communism is hogwash. No one says mandatory auto insurance for all drivers is communism. I believe non-competitive health insurance with (one payer) would save the country much money that can be used for other things.”
Shlachter says he didn’t end up making much money out there in Hauula and Laie, and his home phone rings at all odd hours – just like the doctors’ home phones of old days.
But there in “the country” he’s an icon and a family friend, not just a health provider.
And in 43 years, there haven’t been many illnesses, diseases or injuries he’s not seen, diagnosed and treated.
That – rather than the money – used to be what drew our young people into the medical profession.
-- Bob Jones, MidWeek, February 5, 2014
That brings me to the story of Marc Shlachter, M.D., self-styled “Country Doctor” of Hauula and Laie. Very small-town American doctor.
He’s from Cleveland (where I was born and lived through age 7), and if you’re curious how he came here, it’s pretty simple:
“From watching the 1961 movie Gidget Goes Hawaiian at a high school graduation party.”
I’ve known the doc since he came to Hauula 43 years ago and I lived in Punaluu, when he had to dump the usual doctor’s exam table and use a butcher’s block to handle his weighty, mostly Polynesian patients. When he got paid in taro, fish, chickens and cooked food. Was inaugurated as a Samoan chief. When he married a local Filipina and raised two children, divorced, married again to a woman from Japan, who now manages his office and his money – the latter being what he’s worst at.
Wherever you go with him in Hauula-Laie, people shout, “Hey, Dr. Shlachter!” The Chinese restaurant in Laie Shopping Center carries a vegetarian “Dr. Shlachter Special.”
I was curious what the Country Doctor, who was featured on MidWeek‘s cover back in 1994, thinks about Obamacare and the limits on Medicare reimbursements. And what does this physician with so many patients who will never access HealthCare.gov on the Internet think of the state of our health care system?
“The premise that every American should have health coverage should be a right,” Shlachter says. “The changes that already exist are very good, such as a child staying under the parents’ plan through age 26. And that physical exams and wellness checks are a covered service.
“I believe the country would be much better off with a universal payer like Medicare for everyone, with the federal government or the state contributing to the premiums for indigents. Having multiple insurance companies competing with each other drives up the cost – for example, the five Quest insurers here for indigents.
“The argument that mandatory health care insurance is a form of communism is hogwash. No one says mandatory auto insurance for all drivers is communism. I believe non-competitive health insurance with (one payer) would save the country much money that can be used for other things.”
Shlachter says he didn’t end up making much money out there in Hauula and Laie, and his home phone rings at all odd hours – just like the doctors’ home phones of old days.
But there in “the country” he’s an icon and a family friend, not just a health provider.
And in 43 years, there haven’t been many illnesses, diseases or injuries he’s not seen, diagnosed and treated.
That – rather than the money – used to be what drew our young people into the medical profession.
-- Bob Jones, MidWeek, February 5, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
habits of the mentally strong
In 1914, Thomas Edison's lab burned down, and years' worth of his
work was destroyed. This could easily be described as the worst thing to
happen to Edison, but the inventor instead chose to see it as an
energizing opportunity that forced him to rebuild and re-examine much of
his work. Edison reportedly said at the time: "Thank goodness all our mistakes were burned up. Now we can start again fresh."
"In a world that we don't control, tolerance is obviously an asset," Ryan Holiday, author of the forthcoming The Obstacle Is The Way, told The Huffington Post. "But the ability to find energy and power from what we don't control is an immense competitive advantage."
He's talking about mental strength, a difficult-to-define psychological concept that encompasses emotional intelligence, grit, resilience, self-control, mental toughness and mindfulness. It's something that Edison had in spades, and it's the reason that some people are able to overcome any obstacle, while others crumble at life's daily challenges and frustrations.
The ability to cope with difficult emotions and situations is a significant predictor of our success and happiness. The most capable individuals in this way are able to turn any obstacle into a source of growth and opportunity. And while much has been made of what mentally strong people avoid doing -- things like dwelling on the past, resenting the success of others and feeling sorry for themselves -- what do they actually do? What tactics do they use to overcome adversity time and time again?
"Things that we think are obstacles are actually opportunities to do something," says Holiday. "[To] be rewarded in some way that we never would have expected, provided that we address and don't shirk from that obstacle."
Here are 9 essential habits and practices of mentally strong people that can help you get through any challenge or hardship.
[via facebook]
"In a world that we don't control, tolerance is obviously an asset," Ryan Holiday, author of the forthcoming The Obstacle Is The Way, told The Huffington Post. "But the ability to find energy and power from what we don't control is an immense competitive advantage."
He's talking about mental strength, a difficult-to-define psychological concept that encompasses emotional intelligence, grit, resilience, self-control, mental toughness and mindfulness. It's something that Edison had in spades, and it's the reason that some people are able to overcome any obstacle, while others crumble at life's daily challenges and frustrations.
The ability to cope with difficult emotions and situations is a significant predictor of our success and happiness. The most capable individuals in this way are able to turn any obstacle into a source of growth and opportunity. And while much has been made of what mentally strong people avoid doing -- things like dwelling on the past, resenting the success of others and feeling sorry for themselves -- what do they actually do? What tactics do they use to overcome adversity time and time again?
"Things that we think are obstacles are actually opportunities to do something," says Holiday. "[To] be rewarded in some way that we never would have expected, provided that we address and don't shirk from that obstacle."
Here are 9 essential habits and practices of mentally strong people that can help you get through any challenge or hardship.
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Friday, February 14, 2014
14 Things Your Children Can Teach You
One windy, rainy day my cheap umbrella was blown inside out, leaving me drenched and furious. Muttering under my breath, I wrestled the umbrella closed and jammed it into the trash. Just then a small girl and her father walked by. Her little red umbrella had also been blown inside out. Instead of becoming angry, the girl smiled, "Look Daddy, a giant flower," she said. I realized then, I needed to lighten up.
Whether it is making the most of a bad situation or discovering wonderment in the ordinary world, children have their own way of teaching adults as much as we teach them. But many of us are so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives that this wisdom is wasted. So we took the time to talk to some perceptive parents, educators and other people who work with youngsters. Their observations provide some subtle and not so subtle lessons for all of us.
The power of perseverance. Susan Van Zant, a 52-year old grandmother and elementary school principal in San Diego, remembers one of her most influential "teachers," a 9 year-old named Brian, who has cerebral palsy. When Brian entered the school's charity jogathon., Van Zant assumed he would use his wheelchair, but Brian had planned a surprise for his classmates. "He had been undergoing occupational therapy and learned to walk with a walker. He waited until that day to show the other kids," says Van Zant.
Each step Brian took was enormously difficult and sweat poured down his face as he made his way around the track. "He stumbled and fell, but he got back up again," recalls Van Zant. "After he went around once,we thought he would stop, but he said he wanted to like everyone else and insisted on doing it for a whole hour. He was an inspiration to us all.
Money isn't everything. Carole Kennedy, 54, an elementary-school principal in Columbia, Missouri, recalls preparing for a field trip to St. Louis with her students. Kennedy, whose school serves many children from low-income families, bought a new outfit for one second grader who didn't have many nice clothes. "We thought she'd be delighted, but she wouldn't accept the gift," says Kennedy. "She was comfortable with who she was and if she didn't have things as good as everybody else, that was fine." The episode also taught Kennedy that "the really important issue is the love of family, not trying to keep up with the Joneses."
It's OK to ask for help. While adults often think asking for help is a sign of weakness, children know not only is it smart, but seeking the assistance of others can make them stronger.
Robin Capecci, 36, a social worker at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, learned this from Jessica, a 15-year old patient who was dying of cancer. Jessica came to Capecci for advice on how to discuss her condition with her family. "She wanted to reassure them that they would be OK, but she didn't know how," says Capecci.
Since speaking with Jessica, Capecci has been better able to come forward when she feels overwhelmed. "Jessica didn't want anyone to think she was weak in any way, but she taught me that it was OK to turn to someone else to talk."
-- by Stephanie Dolgoff, Women's Day 3/14/95
Whether it is making the most of a bad situation or discovering wonderment in the ordinary world, children have their own way of teaching adults as much as we teach them. But many of us are so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives that this wisdom is wasted. So we took the time to talk to some perceptive parents, educators and other people who work with youngsters. Their observations provide some subtle and not so subtle lessons for all of us.
The power of perseverance. Susan Van Zant, a 52-year old grandmother and elementary school principal in San Diego, remembers one of her most influential "teachers," a 9 year-old named Brian, who has cerebral palsy. When Brian entered the school's charity jogathon., Van Zant assumed he would use his wheelchair, but Brian had planned a surprise for his classmates. "He had been undergoing occupational therapy and learned to walk with a walker. He waited until that day to show the other kids," says Van Zant.
Each step Brian took was enormously difficult and sweat poured down his face as he made his way around the track. "He stumbled and fell, but he got back up again," recalls Van Zant. "After he went around once,we thought he would stop, but he said he wanted to like everyone else and insisted on doing it for a whole hour. He was an inspiration to us all.
Money isn't everything. Carole Kennedy, 54, an elementary-school principal in Columbia, Missouri, recalls preparing for a field trip to St. Louis with her students. Kennedy, whose school serves many children from low-income families, bought a new outfit for one second grader who didn't have many nice clothes. "We thought she'd be delighted, but she wouldn't accept the gift," says Kennedy. "She was comfortable with who she was and if she didn't have things as good as everybody else, that was fine." The episode also taught Kennedy that "the really important issue is the love of family, not trying to keep up with the Joneses."
It's OK to ask for help. While adults often think asking for help is a sign of weakness, children know not only is it smart, but seeking the assistance of others can make them stronger.
Robin Capecci, 36, a social worker at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, learned this from Jessica, a 15-year old patient who was dying of cancer. Jessica came to Capecci for advice on how to discuss her condition with her family. "She wanted to reassure them that they would be OK, but she didn't know how," says Capecci.
Since speaking with Jessica, Capecci has been better able to come forward when she feels overwhelmed. "Jessica didn't want anyone to think she was weak in any way, but she taught me that it was OK to turn to someone else to talk."
-- by Stephanie Dolgoff, Women's Day 3/14/95
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