ON HEALTH AND WELLBEING

I start by referring to two Star Advertiser features on their ExtraHealth page yesterday. First, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen wrote on Men:  boost lifestyle choices, live long.  They are picking on men because we smoke/drink more, avoid doctors and make risky and unhealthy choices compared to women.  They say this is why women live 5 years longer.  I would not necessarily agree with them on that viewpoint, for I think that males live a more stressful "work" life compared to most females.  This is especially so in Japan.  For those who contend that "home" life can be more stressful, maybe.

In any case:

• See your doctor for regular checkups:  I do, every six months, with a blood test taken the week before the appointment.  This I hate because my veins are almost invisible.  Also, I have my teeth cleaned twice/year.
• Pay attention to what you eat:  I do, and since the pandemic began a year and a half ago, I've switched to a mostly vegetarian diet, with regular weekly servings of Japanese Wagyu Beef and o-toro sashimi, and lost 12 pounds in the process.

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  Stay active:  In other words, exercise, which I do, combining walking on a golf course, cross-trainer and strength reps in our wellness center and morning knee/back therapy in the morning.  On Sunday I rest.
• Quit smoking/vaping:  Never smoked cigarettes, owned a number of Meerschaum pipes and have had maybe a cigar or two a year for the past few years.  All of them I have pretty much given up, but have a large humidor of very expensive cigars, which I'm saving for someone who asked for it.  I also have a nice assortment of lighters and filters.

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  Practice stress management:  Yes, this is something I specialize in, and feel all the better.  Well, until this TEDx responsibility suddenly appeared, which, while stressful, makes the Blue Revolution more probable, an important goal of my life, for I already endowed my penthouse apartment to the University of Hawaii to initiate such a program.  Interesting, but this small amount of mental anxiety helps me sleep a lot better.  For first time in years I have slept 8 and 9 hours straight without going to the bathroom.

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  Stay up to date on vaccinations:  In addition to two Moderna COVID-19 shots, I've recently taken Flu, Shingles, Tetanus and Pneumonia vaccinations.

Those are their recommendations, and I cover them all.

The second article had to do with pre/pro-biotics by Alan Titchenal and Joannie Dobbs, who from the University of Hawaii:

• In short, biotics enables your enzymes and  digestive system to utilize the nutrients in food.
• It all has to do with beneficial microorganisms and enzymes in your lower intestines.

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  Some foods that contain enzymes to enhance your personal ones are pineapple, papaya, ginger and banana.  Plus products such as Yogurt, poi, kimchee and natto are particularly helpful.  The Japanese are noted for natto consumption...but you don't need to immerse yourself into it.

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  I've got to look into this, but Beano is an enzyme product that can decrease gas by breaking down complex carbohydrates found in foods such as beans, grains and many vegetables.
• Beano is alpha-d-glactosidase, which helps make food easier to digest
• My doctor also recommended Gas-X, which contains simethicone, an anti-foaming agent that disperses bubbles trapped in air.

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  Beans, some grains, broccoli, asparagus and cabbage are especially bad if you have any serious hypergastric problem.  
• Keep in mind, though, that the normal frequency of flatulation, or passing gas, is 14-23 times/day.  
• The volume/event or smell can complicate things.
• The key point is to improve your gut health, something that more and more is being recognized by the medical profession as a must.

I have yogurt and natto several times/week, and regularly eat kimchee and Japanese variations, papaya, pineapple and ginger.

Here are three relatively healthful meals I had this past weekend watching the Tokyo Summer Olympics, starting with cheeses/croissant, asparagus/watercress/onion salad and a large artichoke:

For the record, cheese is considered to be a healthful, while artichoke is considered to be wonderful.  If you've never had an artichoke before, be careful about getting to the heart, for there are dangerous spines of soft needles.  The first photo is that of the needles mostly scraped off half a heart, while the second shows a safe piece ready to eat with a dip:

If you boil the artichoke just right, the needles can easily be removed.  You want the the artichoke (also from the bottom of the leaves as you peel it) to be somewhat al dente (not fully steamed).

The second meal was a large tacos salad, where the condiments for the standard tacos was only a shadow of the whole salad with extra lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and cucumber.  As my enhancement, I fried the beef portion with small chunks of wagyu fat.  Used three kinds of hot sauce.  Beer and margarita.  

The third was a vegetable nishime, again lightly sauteed with wagyu fat, plus ahi sashimi with cucumber Japanese fermented cucumber (a probiotic) and miso (another probiotic) soup.  Cold beer with hot sake and green tea.

Tropical Storm Nepartak did not seriously affect the Tokyo Summer Olympics.  Two noteworthy USA gold medals:

• Lydia Jacoby of Alaska stunned the swim world by winning a gold in the 100 meter breaststroke.  You just got to watch the reaction of her fans in Seward.  She was raised in that town, is 17-years old, and will swim for the University of Texas this fall.

• Carissa Moore of Hawaii, who grew up surfing off Waikiki Beach, at the age of 18 became the first person to ever win a gold medal in surfing.

• But not all went well, for Japan beat the USA 2-0 for the softball gold medal.  It was in 2008 when this event was last held in Beijing that Japan also won over the U.S., 3-1.

Video of some incredible photos:

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Tropical Storm Nepartak made landfall just north of Sendai, which is around 230 miles away from Tokyo.  The general weather for the Summer Olympics will remain cloudy and rainy into the weekend.

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WHAT IS THE STATUS OF COURT CASES ON MANDATORY VACCINATIONS?

(Below will be photos I took of the Tokyo Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies.  The first is Tokyo Tree that night.)

Simply, there are at least two recent court judgements on cases regarding the right of government to mandate vaccinations:

• An Indiana court supported Indiana University requiring all students, faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in August, save for those with religious/medical exemptions and students taking online courses.  
• The ruling, though, only applies to this university.  
• Hundreds of other colleges have also taken certain steps, and they all remain open to challenge.
• The University of Hawaii has indicated that vaccinations are not required until the Federal Government officially approves those vaccines, something that won't happen until later this year.
• The bottomline situation nationally, thus, remains murky.

• 
  In a rather confusing set of decisions and changes, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a week and a half ago sided with the CDC over the State of Florida to allow cruise lines to make it mandatory for passengers to be vaccinated before boarding a cruise ship.  Then, this past Friday, this same court indicated that the CDC had failed to demonstrate an entitlement to stay pending appeal.  (Misia singing the Japan National Anthem.)

• 
  What this means is that pandemic restrictions on Florida-based cruise ships are no longer required, and un-vaccinated passengers will be allowed to board.  (Drone show at the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony.)
• The CDC remains committed to following through on its judicial rights, and this could just as well be reversed again.
• What makes it all the more confusing is that most cruise lines would rather have the CDC prevail, and Governor DeSantis is pushing his cause mostly to allow un-vaccinated customers to be served alcoholic beverages in bars and restaurants in the state.  His contention was that he had to extend this right to cruise passengers.
• If you are totally lost with all this illogic, join the crowd.
• The crux of the issue is that everyone, here and elsewhere, will continue to be confused until the virus goes away, which will certainly not be this year, and maybe the next.

On the op-ed page this morning in the Star Advertiser was an article by Stephen Carter, a Yale professor entitled:  Vaccine Mandates and Personal Liberty Can Coexist.  While he makes a bit more sense than the above, only slightly, for the subject matter is rather arcane, and, for some reason, he brings in the libertarian philosophy, which to me obscures the topic even more.

It would be wise for me to stop here, but I'll take a chance and add a few of my thoughts:

• Sure, this is a land of personal freedom, but as Presidents with Congressional approval can declare war, Joe Biden can, should he wish, make vaccinations mandatory, for looming disaster is a good reason for such a step.  The Senate could be fussy, and maybe this is why he has chosen not to do this, letting the CDC take the heat.
• The sudden uptick in COVID-19 cases is due to this Delta variant being, perhaps, twice as contagious as the original.  Here is a graph from the New York Times this morning:

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  Even though those under 12 have not been approved for vaccination, their incidence of contraction is lower than those who were.  I guess younger people have a kind of natural immunity.
• Those older types, like me, have reached the 80% level of completed vaccination, and are now unlikely to be infected.  
• If the average rate of the nation stood at 80%, the number of cases would be at our level, cutting incidence by a factor of ten, and probably more.

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  But here is a scary thought.  If we don't stop the Delta variant, there is a Lambda variant out of South America that could infect vaccinated individuals.

People like me continue to wear masks even though it should not be necessary.  I haven't caught a cold or the flu since 2019, so that is another reason why I do.  There will need to be a decision-making point when I board the Island Princess in January.  By then I hope a sufficient number will have been vaccinated, and the cruise industry settled as to safe policy.  Yes, I'm a dreamer.

Changing subjects to the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Americans are not doing as well as in past competitions.  By the end we will no doubt still win more medals than anyone else, but some losses are surprising and a few results shocking.  I won't say what happened so you can safely watch events throughout the day.

When you look at that Olympic gold medal, your first thought is, wow, it must be really heavy.  Well, it turns out that this GOLD medal only has 6 grams of gold and 550 grams of silver.  Silver has a density a bit more than half that of gold.  The price of gold when that article was written was $353 (today it really is $358 with gold at $58/gram, but why quibble) and with the silver worth $466.  So a gold medal has $820 of precious metal.  The silver would be around $450 and bronze less than $5.  Of course, the value of each is priceless.  During the Winter Olympics the composition was slightly different and the value less, so a gold medal then was worth $555.

Here is something you might not have known.   That graphic is from the Rio Olympics in 2016.  An American in  Tokyo would get:

• Gold:  $37,500
• Silver:  $22,000
• Bronze:  $15,000

This payment comes from the U.S. Olympic Committee, meaning your tax dollars.  Further, some sports pay training athletes.  For example, swimmers who are ranked in the top 16 in the world in an Olympic event earn $40,000/year.  Some sports offer nothing, and, of course, there are marketable individuals getting endorsements and other perquisites.  Notice how prominent some of them are in commercials you watch between events.

The amount varies with country.  If from the UK, zero pounds for winning a medal.  A gold medalist from Singapore wins a tax-free million dollars in Singapore currency.  Of course, this almost never happens, except in the Rio Olympics five years ago 21-year old Joseph Schooling beat Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly and got $750,000.  American's need to file their win with the IRS.  Schooling swam for the University of Texas, and is back in Tokyo.  The 100-meter butterfly final will be at 3:30PM EDT later this week on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke its all-time record for the second day in a row, rising 83 to 35,144.

I get sent a lot of good stuff, so here is one showing how tiny the Titanic looks relative to a modern cruise liner:

A regular size apple from a bonsai apple tree:

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ANOTHER SUNDAY GALLIMAUFRY

The United States of America just about....now.....reached the 50% fully-vaccinated rate.  This began in December of last year.  What about the remaining 50%?  For one, those 11 and younger have not been approved, and they represent 15% of the population.  Thus, 35% of those eligible have chosen not to be fully vaccinated yet.  These are:

• 16% of American athletes in the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

• 
  Some of those unvaccinated Americans have little to no confidence that the vaccines will protect them, especially the variants, or are worried about side and long term effects.  Evidence shows they are WRONG!!!  But there is Fox news and the like.  It's not that there is a lack of information.  Unvaccinated individuals are being convinced to be suspicious by what they hear, watch and read.  Solution?  Don't know, but this is the group that mostly supports Donald Trump, save for some non-whites who don't trust the government.
• 
  43% of Republicans and 10% of Democrats.
• 37% of those under 45 and 16% of those older than 45.
• 30% of non-college graduates and 18% of college graduates.
• It's a free country, but Howard Koh of Harvard surely reflects a sad reality:

"What I learned from my patients is that when a loved one dies, that's a tragedy," said Koh, who was a senior public health official in the Obama administration. "But when a loved one dies and you know it could have been prevented, that tragedy haunts you forever."

If you watch a lot of TV as I do, this weekend has been heaven.  Mind you, this is terrible for my long-term health, back and knees.  Three or four straight hours of sitting, three times/day, wreak havoc.

My remote control (which should also be so for yours--call your service to find out how to do this) has been enhanced so that I can click on any of up to 14 stations.  That was adequate for me to flip among baseball (4 different games), golf (3 stations), news channels and the Olympics, especially the latter, where I can find 5 separate channels, although one charges for use, and is not worth it.  I thus avoid all commercials, and have no guilt in doing so.

The more I watch those obscure Olympics sports, the more I get to appreciate them.  You need to understand the rules for 3-people basketball, handball and the like.  Just by listening to the sportscasters, I get to learn about the personal stories of individuals, making me want to schedule viewing to incorporate them into my schedule.  I still can't stand anything synchronized.

Can you believe that Hawaii has more Olympic athletes/million residents than any other state?  We have more than 7.5, double the rate of California, which has the most number of participants, with 150.  #2 is Florida with 64 of the 613 Americans in Tokyo.  But about Hawaii, when you further add those with ties here because of attendance at the University of Hawaii, and those who were able to join the teams of other countries, we off the charts.  

For example, there are four Australian women softball players who studied here.  Yesterday, that team almost beat the USA in softball, but succumbed in extra innings, and is the only one that has scored against the U.S.  This is confusing, but the USA plays Japan today, and again on Tuesday for the gold medal.  As I earlier said, those pathways to the championship in some sports defy logic.  In any case, the last time softball was played in the Olympics was in 2008 when Japan beat the U.S. for the gold.

Soccer is another sport that requires mathematical skill.  Has something to do with scoring differential.  Thus, it is almost assured that the American women's soccer team will advance because, even though it lost to Sweden 3-0, beat New Zealand 6-1, so we are +2 overall.  Still need to get by Australia, but do not be shocked if the U.S. gets to participate in the gold medal final.  Conversely, the men's team last made the Olympics in 2008, so don't look for them in Tokyo.

Today will be another TV feast, for in addition to continuous free coverage all day on four NBC channels, there are six Major League Baseball games and three golf tournaments.  Unusual, but the major LPGA Evian Championship, which is not related to the Olympics, will be on CNBC.

The vaunted NBA-led USA basketball team? They lost to France 83-76.  American women getting vanquished in soccer and men being beaten by France in basketball?  What is happening?  Turned out Australia was favored to get the gold, with the U.S. set for the silver, but France was rated #7.  Australia today handled #4 Nigeria 84-67.  And, by the way, Australia has twelve players with NBA experience, including Joe Ingles of Utah, Patty Mills of San Antonio, Ben Simmons of Philadelphia and Josh Green of Cleveland.

The most surprising gold medalist so far?  I nominate 18-year old Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia.  All he did was from lane #8 (which means he was the slowest qualifier) win the 400 freestyle swim.  He hadn't before won any major international race.

The latest tally has China leading in gold and total medals with 6 and 11.  The U.S. is #2 in medals with 10.  #3 is ROC with 7.  ROC?  Stands for Russian Olympic Committee.  I thought they were out of these Olympics?  Nope, they are just not flying their flag or playing their anthem.  Instead, their gold medalist will hear Tchaikovsky's Piano Concert No. 1.  Ironically, this is what American Van Cliburn played to stun the world in 1958 by winning the First International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Remember We Are The World, 36 years ago?  The idea came from Harry Belafonte and the song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, then recorded by the supergroup, USA for Africa.  45 singing stars (50 or so more wanted to get in) met at 10:30PM on 28January1985 and completed the task at 8AM the following morning, conducted by Quincy Jones.  The prominent ones you know, but I had forgotten that also in the group were Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Dan Aykroyd and Harry Belafonte.  It became the 8th best selling single of all-time.  Raised an equivalent of $150 million for humanitarian aid in Africa, and the U.S.

Well, all 500 Clarksville Elementary School students from Indiana during this pandemic period outdid those stars.  Watch their We Are The World.

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Oh, I said no typhoon was headed for Tokyo during the Summer Olympics.  I was mostly right, but there is Tropical Storm Nepartak, named for a Kosrae warrior, that is already beginning to affect the Tokyo area, and will cause postponements of various outdoor events, including probably the Japan-USA softball game.  Could be good for surfing, for there was some early worry about no waves.  Hate to be wrong, but there is a chance that Nepartak could reach typhoon strength at landfall.

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