HOW NOT TO BUY A PINK SHIRT

THE QUICKSILVER EDDIE IS A GO for Thursday morning.  As I indicated two weeks ago, first wave will be at 8AM Hawaii time (1PM EST):

... if you happen to be in Honolulu, you will be able to view, live, the whole thing on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channels 250 and 1250HD (the pre-surf program began at 7:30 AM HT).  Othewise, go to:

     http://Quiksilver.com/Eddie
or
     http://WorldSurLeague.com

Now known as Susan G. Komen or Komen, and formerly as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, I know a bit about this breast cancer treatment organization, for my wife Pearl long ago had breast cancer.  She assisted with the organization, which  began in 1982, the year of her ailment.  There are 100,000 volunteers in 50 countries.  The Komen must now be approaching $2 billion for breast cancer education, research and advocacy.

Anyway I was invited to a Komen reception last week and knew I had to wear pink.  Amazingly enough, with a walk-in closet full of clothes, I had a pink tie, but no pink shirt.  At the gathering, I was about the only person not in pink.

So yesterday I went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center for the second time in a week, and decided to do some exercising by walking up and down the full length of this, the largest outdoor mall in the world.  The last time I did this must have been a decade or two ago.  I thought I would walk in the Diamond Head direction on the second (which is actually the third) floor, beginning at the new Nordstrom's, which opens in March, and return through the first (which is the second) floor.  I might mention that Shirokiya in June is also moving to the Ewa Wing, with their food court, Yataimura to be called the Japan Village Walk, reminiscent of old Kyoto.

I was planning to purchase two pink shirts, no matter what they cost.  However, both short and long sleeve shirts needed to be really, really comfortable.  I started at Bloomingdales, but they don't have much in terms of shirts.  However, I noticed a jogging pants which I thought would be useful for trips.  They even had a tailor in the building who would adjust the length to fit me for a nominal cost.  So, that was $115.  Most expensive pants I now have.  As I need to go back in a week to pick up my fancy pants I think I'll also dine at 40 Carrots for their $45 lobster moco, but, as I am allergic to crustaceans, replace the lobster with a filet.  Anyway, Rule #1 for buying pink shirts:  do not get distracted into buying other things.

After checking out at least a half a dozen shops, I strolled into Gap, where things did not look too promising.  So I walked over to the women's section and saw something that looked comfortable.  It was a long sleeve hoodie which could almost pass for something I could wear.  I noticed a lime green version, so ended up buying two, and at check out picked up a jogging shorts.  Price?  $127.  However, if I agreed to get a free Gap card, they would reduce the cost by 25%, so I ended up with a bill for $95.  Rule #2 for buying pink shirts:  do not get distracted into buying other things.

I continued on to Macy's, which most shopping staffers seemed to agree had the most variety.  However, I had not yet had lunch, and it was 2PM, so I walked into Yataimura for a small spicy miso ramen with a small Kirin.  Price?  Almost $20.  Thus my total bill for one pink shirt now added up to $140:

Great ramen, but my dinner at 15 Craigside was now ruined.  I thought I found an acceptable short sleeve golf shirt at Macy's, but both sales clerks indicate the color was not pink, but salmon.  But on my way back to my car, I noticed the following;

There was a PINK Sale, but at Victoria's Secret.  Interestingly enough, they also sell a few men's stuff, but no pink shirt.  I asked if there were any extra large women's pink shirt, and they practically kicked my out of the store, for, apparently, there are no extra large sizes for women in this store.  I wonder where morbidly obese females go to shop to get these kinds of wear?

So if you ever see me wearing a pink or lime hoodie, that is my story.  I'm still on the market for a real pink shirt.

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SEA LEVEL RISE, AROUND THE WORLD, BURPING AND WILL EDDIE GO THIS TIME

Over the next couple of weeks I will post on the following topics:

1.  Humans are the main cause of ocean's alarming rise, according to Justin Gillis of The New York Times.  By 2100 our seas could elevate by 3 to 4 feet.  While this would take millennia, my posting of 27 August 2014 indicates that if all the ice melts, the oceans would rise by up to 250 feet.  Could be higher if temperatures continue to increase.  Florida would disappear.

2.  When I was a senior at McKinley High School, the USS Gudgeon (named after a small freshwater minnow), an American submarine, arrived back at Pearl Harbor this week in 1958 to become the first submarine to circumnavigate the globe.  The trip took eight months and went 25,000 miles.  Maybe this inspired me, for I have now taken a dozen or so around the world trips, none in a submarine, although, perhaps on a cruise line beginning in January of 2018.  

3.  Edin Mehic was fined $77 for decency violation, that is, burping in Prater Park, Vienna.  A bar worker, he said this was caused by a kebab with too much onion.  He said he will appeal.  It appears that a loud belch flash mob is being planned for this coming Saturday near the scene of the crime.

Singapore invoked a chewing gum ban in 1992, which was adjusted to allow for therapeutic gums in 2004.  The fine remains $500-$1000 for a first offense.  Spitting in public also can cost you $500.  Only $150 if you don't flush a public toilet.  Hundreds of undercover police officers issue these fines on the spot.  That's the Marina Bay Sands below:

4.  On 9 February 2016 I posted that Eddie would go.  Well, it (now a surfing competition, named after Eddie Aikau) did not.  The deadline is by the end of February.  However, following up on messy 55 foot waves yesterday, another giant series is expected on Thursday, so Eddie might then go.  This was the crowd that gathered on February 10 at Waimea Bay when Eddie didn't.

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Tropical Cyclone Winston, after killing at least 29 in Fiji, remains at 80 MPH, will soon weaken and turn west toward Brisbane:

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THE DECLINE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

I've long wondered why the Republican Party has through most of my professional career dominated nationally, but not in my home state of Hawaii.  Why Republicans are almost nonexistent here is pretty simple.  At one time this was a paternalistic state, with the sugar industry and related business partners dominating the politics and decision-making.  Rich people and Caucasians were the Republicans.  Then came World War II, then over the next decade, local Japanese veterans returned as heroes, with the GI Bill educating them.  That led to a a monumental reversal, with Democrats gaining control, which has continued to the present.

Hawaii 's population today is a mixed plate:

• Asian  38.6%
• White  24.7%
• Native Hawaiian  10% (including Pacific Islanders)
• 8.9%  Hispanic
• 1.6%  Black

However, nearly 24.7% claim to be of two or more races, which is triple that of the next highest, state Alaska at 7.3%.

If the Nation had the above racial breakdown, the country would be  overwhelmingly Democratic.  The USA today?

• White  63.7%
• Hispanic  16.3%
• Black  12.2%
• Asian  4.7%

In the USA, white does not mean you are a Republican, but only a small percentage considers itself rich.  So why do Republicans dominate the U.S. Congress, Supreme Court, State Legislatures and State Governorships (31 versus 18)?

• The 1964 Civil Rights Act gave legal protection to minorities.  Caucasians reacted by leaving the Democratic Party, particularly in the South.
• In 2014 10-year Democratic Representative John Barrow of Georgia lost to Republican Rick Allan.  Barrow was the last white Democratic from the South in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• In 2015 Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu lost her re-election to Republican Bill Cassidy.  She was the last Democrat to hold any statewide office in Louisiana and the last Democrat in Congress to represent the Deep South.
• U.S. Senate:  54 Republicans out of 100.
• U.S. House:  247 Republicans out of 435.
• Republicans are governors in 7 of the 10 largest states.
• Democrats control both houses of the state legislature and governorship only in 7 states, with 24 for Republicans.

Control of a state means control over re-districting and the opportunity for gerrymandering.

Republicans better promote family values and aim for lower taxes.  Everyone identifies with those.  They are a lot more religious, and 80-90% of Americans identify with God and the Afterlife, with a Gallup poll showing more than 90% believing in God.  Every Democrat in Congress is smart enough to indicate a belief in God, but Republicans do this much more sincerely.

While official campaign funds seem reasonably close, the more effective lobbyists with bigger bucks include the military industrial complex, fossil fuel companies and pharmaceuticals.   I know, they offered me a lot more than struggling lobbyists when I worked in the Senate.  The Supreme Court now allows the rich to be especially generous and provided a non-accountable back door to campaign financing.  It is not clear how much these inputs are impacting the national scene, but it must be significant, and Republicans benefit the most, by far.  But, aha, whether it will be a Barack  liberal or Hillary liberal, with two more Associate Justices nearing the end of their lives, the Supreme Court will shift to Democratic Party wishes over the next eight years.

So why am I suggesting that there will be a decline in Republican dominance?  Well, the Supreme Court, for one, but, also:

• Republicans are hurting the environment, and people will begin to react, as in China today.  More than seven years ago I published in the Huffington Post:  Why Do Republicans Like Fossil Fuels and Not Care That Much for the Environment.  You can click on that site to read the details, but here is just one quote:

ANWR Exploration: REPUBLICANS: 91% supported; DEMOCRATS 86% opposed
Coal to liquid: REPUBLICANS: 97% supported; DEMOCRATS: 78% opposed
Oil shale exploration: REPUBLICANS: 90% supported; DEMOCRATS: 86% opposed
Offshore exploration: REPUBLICANS: 81% supported; DEMOCRATS: 83% opposed

• Republicans pooh-pooh the significance of global warming.  Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, the most powerful American in Congress on the environment, calls this The Greatest Hoax.  However:
• No solid evidence of global warming:  
• Republicans 48%
• Democrats 9%
• Global warming is happening
• Republicans  45%
• Democrats  86%

• Republicans question the validity of evolution (surely, we can't today be that ignorant):
• Humans have evolved over time
• Republicans  43%
• Democrats  67% (kind of low, actually)

• Republicans want to spend more on war, not listening to former Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.  We don't have a Soviet Union anymore to threaten us, and terrorism can be handled by Navy Seals and drones without more $13 billion aircraft carriers, which are obsolete anyway, and the projected $1.5 trillion F-35 fighter plan of the Department of Defense.
• Too much spending on military
• Republicans  20%
• Democrats  51%
• Too little spending on military
• Republicans  15%
• Democrats  49%
• Republicans abhor using funds to aid the needy.  There are a lot more voters who are needy than really rich people.  So obvious, but click on this poll to understand the details:

• Republicans want to keep immigrants out of the country.  There is the Donald Trump version as an extreme, but comparing Republicans versus Democrats:
• 63% of Republicans view immigrants as a burden.
• 62% of Democrats believe immigrants strengthen our country because of their hard work and talents.

David Brooks of The New York Times had an op-ed today entitled A Little Reality on Immigration:

• Donald Trump built his campaign on a wall along the Mexican border (attention grabbing but unworkable), but that is not far away from the current Republican orthodoxy.
• To show conservative credentials, Republicans want to deport undocumented aliens.
• The flow of illegal immigrants peaked in 2005 and has since been dropping.
• There are more Mexicans LEAVING the U.S. than coming in.  A wall would keep them in.
• Since 2008 more immigrants have come from Asia than Latin America, and this disparity is growing.  Further, these Asians are more highly educated than the average American.
• Immigrants make American streets safer.  
• Republican immigration attitudes are pissing off the brown population.
• Immigrants have a hugely positive effect on our GDP.
• Republicans are more and more becoming white older Americans, who identify with Trump.
• In 2044 America will become a majority-minority country.

Click on this article for details so you can link to sites that confirm these statements.

The catalyst for the decline of the Republican Party will be Donald Trump.  If he wins the Republican ticket to the presidential race, they will begin to lose control of Congress.  If they sufficiently mistreat him, he will run as an Independent and totally screw them up.  Bernie Sanders seems less inclined to play the Ralph Nader role in the ruining of Al Gore.  Will the Red, White and Blue elephant become a White elephant?

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THE IDYLLIC LIFE OF A 75-YEAR OLD IN HONOLULU

Life in the USA is about as good as it gets, more so today than, say, a century ago.  It's even better in Hawaii with our weather and people.  And finer yet if you're retired and lucked out into a cocoon such as 15 Craigside, where you can control your room temperature, have someone once a week clean your room, change your bed and replace the sheets and towels.  Three meals a day are provided, but I decided that for the limited period left in my life, I have sufficient funds to eat what I want, so I might dine in only for dinner, which, incredibly, and unexpectedly, is a party every night.

So yesterday I decided to drop by Hawaii's Best Kitchens next to Rainbow Drive-Inn to order their gigantic huli-huli chicken plate.  While I walk on the Ala Wai Golf Course twice/week or so, my lunch spot is at a lookout near the lower part of Diamond Head (Waikiki is to the right), with a magnificent view of surfers below:

That half-a-chicken actually sticks out of the bento box.

I then drove to Kahala Mall to see 45 Years, a movie Rotten Tomatoes reviewers bestowed a 97 rating.  There is nothing else playing today with anything close to this score.  The current Star Wars is at 92.  Charlotte Rampling has a Best Actress nomination in the 88th Academy Awards ceremony next week Sunday.  Both she and Tom Courtenay won the best acting prizes at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Charlotte Rampling, 70, has had quite a life:

• First movie appearance in the Beatles' Hard Days Night (1964).
• Was close to her sister, who committed suicide at the age of 23.
• In Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980).
• In the movie Max mon amour, (1986) fell in love with a chimpanzee.
• Suffered a nervous breakdown in 1997 after divorcing her second husband, French composer Jean Michael Jarre.

Sir Tom Courtenay, 79, made a big splash in the 60's with The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).  He received a knighthood in 2001.

Frankly, while I related to all those 1960 hits, most which came on meaningfully as an integral part of the movie, the film itself I found mostly boring.  I dozed off a couple of times.  I couldn't quite understand the British language so missed a lot of the dialogue.   The entire cast could have come from 15 Craigside, but were English.  These were the six days leading to Kate and Geoff's 45th anniversary celebration, but he on Day One received a letter in German informing him that his girlfriend of 47 years ago, who had accidentally fallen into a glacier crevasse on their final hike, had been found, relatively unchanged encased in ice.   

(The following is my interpretation of what was happening in the movie.  I could be wrong, but I'm perhaps giving away the ending.)

Rampling plays a stable wife who is so affected by that letter she slowly begins to lose it.  Nothing terribly obvious.  Just tiny mannerisms.

It seemed in this relatively short film (1 hr 36 min) that some major trauma or incident was waiting to happen.  Maybe some clue that Geoff, in fact, murdered his girlfriend, who through Kate's snooping, is seen in a slide to be pregnant.  But, no, at their party they have the first dance to the entire Platters' Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, the same song from 45 years ago at their wedding.  While everyone, including Geoff, carries on in nostalgia and satisfaction, Kate, in those final minutes, has apparently reached the freezing or tipping point, and glaciates.  Something terrible might have happened if the movie went on for just a few more seconds.  Then again, these were my emotions.  Perhaps in reality their lives could well have moved on without incident, for most who have survived that long have learned to optimize their future.

Ah, but my day did not end there.  I had ordered  15C takeout (for which I paid $1.50) the previous night of lau lau. chicken long rice, lomi-lomi salmon and haupia (if you really want to know what those dishes are, click on LUAU), and had that meal with a plate of sashimi I bought at Marukai on my way home from the movie.  I might add that on Tuesday morning Marukai begins to again sell Miyazaki beef, the best in the world!  Through the early part of this feast I watched two University of Hawaii games on television:

• The UH Men's Basketball team edged out Cal-Irvine (they have a 7 ft 6 inch center, another 7 ft 2 in center, and two months ago started the tallest team in the history of college basketball).  Hawaii is now #1 in the league with a 22-3 record.
• The UH Men's Baseball team beat New Mexico in 11 innings, 4-3.

Then today I went to Sushi King for lunch.  I park close to the UH baseball stadium because I have an E-permit, which allows Emeritus people to practically park anywhere they want, then walked to the restaurant.  I had their lunch combo:  Zaru soba and miso salmon collar.  I also had a hot sake and cold beer.  I like hot and cold combinations.  This was the best Japanese meal I've had since I was in Miyazaki this past September.  The restaurant is almost misnamed, for they are  best known for their lunch and dinner specials.

I then went to the Rainbow Baseball game against New Mexico.    Score?  Don't ask.

Being retired, my current vacation continues tomorrow, Monday, when I plan to golf at Ala Wai.  In a little more than a month I will be flying to Japan to enjoy two weeks of Cherry Blossoms.  Here is a photo I took five years ago at Shinjuku Park, one of sites of Pearl's Ashes, a future book:

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After devastating Fiji with 180 MPH sustained winds, killing ten, then Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston still remains dangerous at 130 MPH:

Computer projections show Winston weakening, but at some point in his southern journey, make a right turn and head for....Brisbane.  However, chances are he'll dissipate before reaching Australia.

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AVIATION EMISSIONS, POTUS ODDS AND DENGUE FEVER IN HAWAII

Glancing outside my apartment towards the Pacific Ocean, on this absolutely fabulous Saturday in Honolulu, let me follow-up on items I have recently blogged on to provide continuity.  I spent the past three days on the future of aviation, and can report that, while that December United Nations global climate change gathering in Paris did not address this problem, an obscure arm of the UN based in Montreal, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), did finally report on their efforts to reduce aircraft emissions.  I noticed that military planes are excluded.  Note that their flights are also exempt from civilian noise standards.

To summarize:

• Standards will affect all planes sold after 2020.
• All other  (meaning older) aircraft must meet these levels by 2028.
• Not worth including details for environmental organizations pretty much unanimously laughed that this threshold is hardly worth the effort.
• The newest Boeing and Airbus models already exceed these standards, which, of course, makes the promulgation of this new stricture meaningless.
• Next year will see the appearance of the Boeing 777X, the most efficient airliner ever, with seating for 400 passengers (their 747 can go up to 660, but the Airbus 380 can have 853).

Look, the use of jet fuel, no matter how combusted ,will still release carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere, only exacerbating the problem.  The real solution is to move away from fossil fuels.

A month ago my posting on HOW WILL BLOOMBERG AFFECT THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN showed Hillary Clinton at even odds of becoming the next POTUS (President Of The United States).  Her position has weakened

2016 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Odds as of February 17 at Bovada

• Hillary Clinton  +115
• Donald Trump +250
• Bernie Sanders +400
• Marco Rubio +800
• Ted Cruz +1800
• Jeb Bush +2200
• John Kasich +2200
• Michael Bloomberg +2500

However, interestingly enough, the odds on Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders also got worse.  What do those numbers mean?  If you currently bet $100 on Hillary, you would win $215 (your $100 plus $115).  The current "fear" for Clinton is that Republicans will do everything possible to shore Sanders up, even to the point of encouraging him to run as an independent candidate (with mega funding) should the Democratic Party reject him.

Trump and the Republicans?  Guess what Democrats are doing?  Will Sanders actually become a serious candidate for POTUS after shining in Nevada?  Nah.  But he could become a pivotal Ralph Nader and Ross Perot, for both of them gave the election to the other party in 2000 and 1992.

Also last month I reported that Hawaii should not get too excited about 250 cases of dengue on the Big Island because the world ANNUALLY HAS NEARLY 400 MILLION CASES/YEAR.    So what happened?  First, the Star-Advertiser on February 11 editorialized

     Ige must step up actions against dengue outbreak

Then on February 12,  Governor David Ige declared a State of Emergency in Mosquito Fight.  At his (right) side was George Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.  What do you think was the motivating factor in finally influencing Governor Ige?  Till today I have not seen written anywhere in the local media or stated on television that the world suffers from 390 million (this is the more accurate version) dengue cases.  I might add that 25,000 people annually die from this illness.  

Five years ago my Huffington Post article on a similar matter was entitled:

     A Pandemic Worse than the Swine Flu

Essentially, I kind of made fun of the Swine Flu as a serious pandemic, and blamed the media and mothers in general for exaggerating the reality.  Surely enough, Swine Flu just went away.

Mind you, I certainly don't want to get Dengue Fever and will avoid the Big Island if I can.  So I can't blame Governor Ige or the Hawaii Tourism Authority for invoking this state of emergency.  This is one of those political decisions that can mostly help your reputation.  And, if even one person chooses the Caribbean over Hawaii during this chilly season because of the potential of dengue, that is a loss to the local economy.  But 259 versus 390,000,000.  Where do you draw the line?

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Tropical Cyclone Winston, the MOST POWERFUL STORM ON RECORD in the Southern Hemisphere, today punished Fiji with winds as high as 184 MPH.  No confirmation of any fatalities, but the damage was significant.

Still at 150 MPH, Winston now seems mostly headed south to nowhere.  This storm has had a fearsome, weird and meandering history:

Global warming?

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