VOLCANOES, VERMONT AND MEGA EARTHQUAKES

My usual photo of Honolulu has rainbows and sunsets.  However, this is one of those voggy Sundays.  It was nearly a third of century ago on 3January1983 when on the back nine of the Volcano Golf and Country Club, the ground shook, followed by the beginning of the current Kilauea eruption.  We saw fountains of lava less than a golf course away from where we were standing.  Well, all this haziness is caused by the emission from this long erupting volcano a little more than 200 miles away.  I do worry about the effect of particulate natural pollution on our lungs. 

Well, let me do a little more editorializing, starting with an article today following up on my blog yesterday about California (just scroll down to the next posting):

1.  Turns out there is at least one state, Vermont (state flag to left), on the verge of launching universal health care.  No Tea Party Republicans wanting to shut down their economy.  Like California, just another example of Democratic supermajorities running the state.  It also helps that there are only 15 hospitals, and all are already nonprofits.  As Hawaii has an even greater supermajority of Democrats running the state, why don't we do anything monumentally inspiring anymore?

2.  I've invested a lot of time and effort on the tragedy known as Fukushima.  Here are two of my Huffington Post articles related to that earthquake/tsunami/nuclear cataclysm:

•  The Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami: The Aftermath

• Why Worry About Fukushima When Hiroshima and Nagasaki Are Safe?

Can you imagine a 7.3 earthquake striking your city?  Well, the ocean just outside of Fukushima yesterday had a 7.3 aftershock.  There was a tsunami of about a foot, but nothing much else.  That 11March2011 monster which killed 19,000 was rated at 9.0 and was a subduction zone event.  Oregon is the mirror image of Japan and these faults are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire where tectonic plates are colliding.

3.  In 1700, the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ, left) suffered a 9 earthquake.  This fault was responsible for the Mount St. Helens explosion in 1980.  Well, there is a 10-14% probability that the CSZ will produce an event of magnitude 9 or higher in the next 50 years.  There is a 37% chance of 8 or larger.     Major cities to be impacted include:  Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Sacramento...yes, Sacramento!   Worse, geological evidence shows that activity here could well affect the San Andreas Fault on which San Francisco sits, with their 1906 earthquake suggested to be 7.7, 7.9 or 8.3.

If you were awaiting my synthesis of how volcanoes, Vermont and mega earthquakes are related, well, they aren't.  Vermont has no active volcanos and their largest earthquake of 4.2 occurred in 1962.

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Likewise, if perchance you were wondering what happened to Raymond, this  hurricane just attained Category 2 strength at nearly 100 MPH, is now moving towards Baha, but should weaken by midweek:

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CALIFORNIA MIGHT JUST HAVE FOUND THE SOLUTION TO A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT

I've long felt that a benevolent dictator was the best form of government.  Singapore, with Lee Kuan Yew (click on his name to watch a tribute), can be offered as the ideal yet for humanity.  The problem, however, is that it might be impossible to maintain "honest" and progressive leadership forever.

The State of California appears to have stumbled into a workable government.  In just two years, Governor Jerry Brown, the equivalent of a benevolent dictator, has raised the state from laughing stock on the verge of bankruptcy to stability.  Like Lee, Brown just  happened to fall into a perfect scenario.  Democrats now hold supermajority control of the Legislature and gerrymandering was effectively overcome.  Read the op-ed article by Froma Harrop, (left) a columnist with the Creators Syndicate.

So is the solution to rid the Nation of the Republican Party?  No, but they seem to be doing it to themselves.  Eliminate gerrymandering?  Yes, of course.

It is not impossible that by 2016 the USA could be on the cusp of replacing a broken government with a female President, Hillary Clinton, and supermajorities in both the House and Senate.  I suspect that for a decade or so that could well be the cure to our present crippled decision-making capabilities.

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OKINAWA, THE BLUE REVOLUTION AND ANOTHER HONOLULU SUNSET

There were 40 or so visitors from Okinawa, mostly business people,  I addressed at the East-West Center today.  I glanced at their meeting schedule and noted that I was the most insignificant personality on their list, for they were set to meet with EWC President Charles Morrison, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and a whole bunch of dignitaries from Oahu.  Those are Bob Nakasone, their local interface, to the left, and  Junichi Tomita (in pink, President of The Ryukyu Shimpo).

Anyway, I presented an hour and half lecture on how Okinawa and Hawaii can take the leadership role, together, to show the way for the Blue Revolution.  I hope to be able to visit Okinawa next year and will follow-up on their interest.

I then finished my day on my roof at sunset with my last Amphora pipe tobacco and an original Absinthe, which, I think, is today legal:

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FLU SHOTS, SLEEP AND MORE ON GARCINIA CAMBOGIA

Today, three items relating to the rest of your life:

1.  I repeat again that the flu (that's a flu virus to the right) shot you get in the Fall can also boost your heart health.  Fifty-five percent of those who took this vaccination lowered the risk of a cardiac event.  Why?  There are two theories:

• vulnerable plaque theory--inflammation caused by the flu can release plaque into the bloodstream, causing a cardiac event
• vulnerable patient theory--side effects from coughing, etc., can strain the heart

Where can you get a flu shot?  Your personal doctor or drugstore or, perhaps, from this HealthMap Vaccine Finder.  Remember, 31 million Americans annually get the flu and 60% of them did not bother with the preventative shot.   How much to be treated?  Anywhere from zero (depends on health plan) to $20 or more.  I noticed in m my mail today that COSTCO says $16.   Check around.  Go to my 26August2013 posting for additional details.

2.  Why do we sleep?  According to one study, reported by Dr. Clete Kushida, medical director of the Stanford Sleep Medicine Center, during sleep, our brain clears itself, including ridding itself of waste, the stuff that could cause Alzheimer's.  Sleep more to prevent dementia???

And, oh, by the way, following up on my vivid dreams perhaps stimulated by my first day of taking Garcinia Cambogia, nothing happened for the five subsequent nights, until the other night, when, during the final moments of my 8-hour sleep, I awoke remembering a particularly colorful dream.  Won't go into details, but this was a fancy lunch with a friend of mine, Tadashi Matsunaga (he is president of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology), and his staff, at a restaurant in Honolulu that featured about five times more than you see to the left.  Every course was like a kaleidoscopic treat.  I would think that this dream had something to do with a lunch I had with Tadashi and his wife during my ultimate global journey earlier this year.

3.  Okay, this might explain, in addition to old age, why my memory is going.  The latest research from Germany hints that those with higher glucose levels in your blood have greater memory problems.  For anyone new to this blog site, I'm taking Garcinia Cambogia not only to lose some weight, but, more so, to lower my blood sugar level.  There is a caution, though, for those already taking medication for diabetes or to lower blood sugar, don't take this pill.  There is an added warning to be aware of that I just learned today, that CG, because of the active ingredient, hydroxycitric acid, could increase the degeneration of skeletal muscles if you're on statins for high blood pressure.  Whoops, this I'm doing, so I'd better stop this CG experiment on my body.  I just had a blood test this morning, so at least I'll learn if there was any effect on my blood sugar level.  Interesting enough, I've definitely lost a few pounds since I began taking CG a little more than a week ago, so something is happening.

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WORLD SERIES, TWO GIRLS AND A SAILOR, VENUS AND ANTARES

Yesterday was a monumental day.  I made a decision about my lifestyle for the rest of my life.  More to to come later.

I watched an entire World Series game for the first time in my life...sort of.  The Red Sox beat the Cardinal 8-1.  However, during the breaks, I noticed that Two Girls and a Sailor was showing on Turner Classic Movies:

Those are Van Johnson and June Allyson, with Gloria DeHaven and Tom Drake:

Jimmy Durante and Harry James:

The songs were the stars:

• Sweet and Lovely
• A Tisket, a Tasket
• Babalu
• Charmaine
• A Love Like Ours
• Granada
• Paper Doll
• Anchors Aweigh
• Inka Dinka Doo (and Jimmy Durante is credited with the words and music)
• Ritual Fire Dance with Jose Iturbi
• and much more

As for example, Lena Horne:

I might actually have spent more time on this film than the game.

Then, I had a dungeness crab (I'm only allergic to "old" crustaceans), an abalone and flying fish egg poke, a glass of white wine (the end of Peter Vella Chadonnay in a box which was opened a month ago--which still tasted okay), ending at sunset with a special crystal encased cognac infuse cigar:

There was Planet Venus:

That tiny blip below and right of Venus is Antares.  That bright "star" at the top is Venus:

But maybe not, as Venus is supposed to be halfway into the full cycle.  Anyway, a truly great day.

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Super Typhoon Lekima is at 160 MPH, but projected to miss Japan:

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HAVE YOU RECENTLY BOUGHT A PRINTER?

Yesterday, after finally deciding that I did not want to cope with my 5-year old HP printer, I went to Best Buy and asked for the latest HP which used the same ink cartridges, for I had purchased from Amazon.com a whole bunch of them.  Oh my, was I surprised and, maybe worse, embarrassed, at my anachronistic incompetence.  The world of printers has gone right by me, as have smart phones and everything else electronic.

I got an HP ENVY 5530, which does everything:  print, scan, photo, copy, web.  No FAXing, but who does that anymore?  You need to plug the printer into the electric socket, but everything else is wireless.  

The greatest shock was that you don't BUY ink cartridges anymore.  For a monthly fee of $2.99 you can print up to 50 pages, with each additional set of 15 pages costing $1.  If you don't get up to 50 in any month, the difference is rolled-over to the next month, with any rollovers good for eternity up to that maximum, i.e., 100 pages to begin the month.   You are automatically billed.  For $9.99/month, you can  have 300 pages, with each additional set of 25 costing $1.  Your printer, when on, is in touch with HP, which automatically, for FREE, sends you black or colored cartridges by mail when you are getting low.  Something scary about this, but I guess this can also be called convenient.  They include a postage paid recycling envelope to return the used cartridge.  You never again need to purchase ink cartridges.  Those companies now doing this are doomed.  If you own stock in any of them, sell quickly.

Now for the bad news.  I tried to link my computer system to the printer.  I couldn't.  I called a number they provided, and, amazingly enough, at 5PM Hawaii time, was connected to a really nice, patient and helpful lady, who stuck in with me for nearly an hour.  There were things I had to do which I had no hope in my dweeb world without professional assistance.  Again, from agony to ecstasy, this time in one hour.  My HP angel was wonderful.

This a slick, quick printing device.  My total cost of all the above was $149 (including a four year warranty), plus, of course, that $2.99/month for 50 pages.  This is absolutely the final printer I will ever purchase in my life.

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Tropical Storm Francisco close to Japan and Tropical Storm Raymond near Mexico are both moving away from land.  However, Super Typhoon Lekima is now a Category 5 at 160 MPH:

However, as you can see, Lekima is safely on a path sufficiently far away from Japan.

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THE WORLD SERIES BEGINS TOMORROW

Actually, I'm not a big fan of the World Series, and if you're totally out of it, this is the Major League Baseball Championship, the first to win four games.  I don't recall watching an entire game of the World Series in my life.  However, this is the first time players from Hawaii are opposing each other:  Shane Victorino (left) of the Boston Red Sox and Kolten Wong of the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Red Sox are the home team (meaning, if the series goes 7 games, it will be played at Fenway Park--below) because the American League beat the National League in the July All-Star Game.

Game One begins on FOX in Boston at 8:07 PM EDT (5:07 Hawaii time).  All games start at 8:08 EDT, except for Sunday...8:15 PM EDT.  Why?  That's because this is baseball.  Some things cannot be adequately explained.

What to look for?  Cardinal pitching and Red Sox hitting.  

Fenway park only sits 37,400, while Busch Stadium can handle 49,000, including tickets for standing.

I don't tend to agree much with the Wall Street Journal, but I do like their "Ten Things" series.  Here is an offering from Charles Passey (one or both is/are Charles):

• Baseball is losing appeal.  The audience last year for the San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers games averaged only 12.7 million viewers, a modern day low.
• The average resale price for the Super Bowl was $2,479, while both the NBA (basketball) and NHL (hockey) averaged $623.  The World Series last year was $614, which is also out of my range.

• Those 8PM starts had everything to do with accommodating television.
• The fans for the winning team usually show immature post game behavior--last year, 30 were arrested in San Francisco.
• While the 2000 Subway Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets might have boosted the New York  City economy by a quarter billion dollars, the average is only around $6.8 million/game.
• This Fall Classic will almost surely feel like a Winter Classic.  The final game could occur on October 31 in Boston at 43 F. 
• This is not the WORLD Series, for the USA has never won the World Baseball Classic (best was 4th place in 2009).
• The means of getting to the World Series seems to constantly change.
• Over the past decade, only one game went 7 games, while seven ended up 4-0 or 4-1.
• There is generally some distraction.  There was an earthquake in 1989.  I stayed at a San Francisco Airport hotel the night before this 7.0 shake, which delayed the series.

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Hurricane Raymond, now at 120 MPH, could go anywhere, but computer models generally show movement west, away from Acapulco:

However, cruise ships beware, as things could change.

In the West Pacific, Typhoon Francisco is at 85 MPH, but will weaken and only brush Japan as a tropical storm.  Typhoon Lekima is now at 145 MPH, but will strengthen into a Category 4, becoming  a super typhoon, before also weakening and passing Japan even further east than Francisco:

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WHY IS U.S. SENATOR TED CRUZ CONTINUING HIS HOPELESS CRUSADE?

Well, let me first neutralize that title and indicate that this is not a hopeless crusade.  Basically, I think, he really hates Obamacare and wants to become President of the USA.

Cruz's birthplace was Calgary, Canada almost 43 years ago.  His father was born a year before me in Cuba, became a critic of Fidel Castro, and fled the country in 1957, landing with $100 sewn in his underwear and knowing no English, somehow becoming a student at the University of Texas, supporting his way as a dishwasher making 50 cents/hour.  Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, who changed his name to Robert Garrett, earned a degree in mathematics, went into oil, became a U.S. citizen in 2005, and is now a pastor near Dallas.  Cruz's mother is of Irish/Italian descent and is also a mathematician, from Rice University, and worked in the oil industry.

Son Rafael Edward ("Ted"--Ever wonder how Ted comes from Edward?  Has something do with adding a T to Ed...as, how did Dick come from Richard or Peggy from Margaret.) Cruz:  

• He joined the Free Market Education Foundation while an intermediate school student in Houston, graduated cum laude from Princeton (but was he creepy?), where in 1992 he was named U.S. National Speaker of the Year in debating, then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School as primary editor of the Harvard Law Review.  
• Professor Alan Dershowitz said, "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant."  
• He clerked from William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the U.S., the first Hispanic ever to clerk in the Supreme Court.  
• In 1998, 15 years ago, he served as private counsel for Congressman John Boehner.
• Joined the Bush-Cheney campaign in 1999.
• Served as the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas.
• Joined the U.S. Senate as a Republican this year.

Do you recognize hints of Barack Obama?  You say, how can someone so smart be so stupid?  Well, he has become the general leading the Tea Party and many other conservative Republicans who believe that freedom itself is being compromised (Obamacare being just one example), and that the American culture is being destroyed by an alliance of Hollywood, Washington, and public (as opposed to private) schools leaders.  

The reason why the vision of Cruz is so enrapturing is that, while Americans might have a low opinion of the Congress and Republicans, each conservative / Republican / Tea Party member of the House and Senate continues to be strongly supported by his constituency.  As much as Cruz seemed to have led the Republicans off the cliff in losing the government shutdown and debt deficit wars, he remains the most popular politician in Texas.  

Obamacare is a key piece of legislation worthy of their attack because there are few social issues where Republicans might have an edge.  President Obama's bully pulpit speech today, however, will move more than half of the country in favor of the Affordable Care Act, and especially so when the Administration fixes that website embarrassment.  What might not generally be known is that you can also do this the old fashioned way:  telephone or visiting some federal office.  The fact that a Republican Supreme Court endorsed Obamacare makes this issue hopeless for Republicans, anyway.

So I return to the Somali pirates analogy, where they, and the Tea Party today, have no other course of meaningful action than to take hostages.  The next time, and this will come in January and February, Cruz and his supporters better have a more winnable strategy, or his Cruz for 2016 campaign could come to a screeching halt.

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Typhoon Francisco at 95 MPH is weakening, and is now projected to skirt the eastern coastline of Japan, passing near Tokyo at the end of the week:

Now on the same track behind Francisco, is Tropical Storm Lekima, projected to become a Category 4 hurricane:

However, chances are Lekima will also remain in the ocean and only threaten Japan.

In the East Pacific, Hurricane Raymond is now  at 120 MPH:

However, most computer models seem to show Raymond turn west and possibly completely missing Mexico.  However, a couple show Raymond going north, so the situation is a bit fluid.

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WHAT IS THE FIFTH ESTATE?

The estates of the realm are:

• First Estate:  the clergy
• Second Estate:  the nobility
• Third Estate:  commoners
• Fourth Estate:  the press
• Fifth Estate:  those who go beyond traditional news

Much of this ranking goes back to France in the late 1500's when Michel de Montaigne (above) proposed that governments should hold in check a fourth estate of lawyers (yes, they are linked to this class).  However, Edmund Burke coined the term of the first three estates in 1787, while Thomas Carlyle (left) in the 1800's linked the Fourth Estate to the press.

Thirty eight years ago, the CBC of Canada first showed The Fifth Estate, a television newsmagazine, going beyond everyday news into original and investigative journalism.  TFE and The Twilight Zone are the only two television series to win an Academy Award.  Here is a typical expose on SUGAR.  It did catch my attention.  TFE on TV just began it's 39th year.

There is of course now another The Fifth Estate, the movie, about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.  Did Assange try to steal the manuscript for the film?  Rotten Tomatoes reviewers only gave it a 39% rating, while 46% of the audience liked it.  

TFE totally bombed at the box office, earning only $1.7 million this weekend.  WikiLeaks soundly criticized the effort, indicating that the script exaggerated the effect on informants, was fictional...and, ta da, WikiLeaks is still alive and well today.  I  guess the really low blow was by Filmdrunk, which indicated that another opening film, I'm in Love with A Churchgirl, was not advertised, but made a debut for a million this weekend.

What did I think?  I actually enjoyed the film.  You can read Assange's story.  While originally from Australia, as of this moment he lives at the London Ecuadorian Embassy on diplomatic asylum.  Note that American Edward Snowden, now in Moscow, also indicated he might go to Ecuador.  Why?  Apparently, this leftist (for social equality--as opposed to the right, or social inequality) South American country also does not appreciate the USA's influence in the region.

Coincidentally, Roy Amemiya of Olelo had an op ed article the next day on "America's heritage of free speech as relevant as it ever was."  Featured were:

• Two cases before the Supreme Court:
• Son of Citizens United relating to election contribution limits.
• Massachusetts buffer zone to reduce abortion limitations.
• Is Edward Snowden a hero or traitor?
• The world of Malala Yousafzai.
• The incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in 1942.

The question that becomes obvious is:

     Under certain circumstances, could you do what Assange, Snowden and others in our history did?

I guess I could.

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Super Typhoon Francisco is now only a typhoon, weakening to 145 MPH:

Francisco is predicted to largely follow the path of Wipha of a little more than a week ago:

However, watch out for two more tropical depressions mostly east of Francisco, with #28 surely to become a powerful typhoon.

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