Check out this episode of TEDTalks (video) at Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different? - Derek Sivers (2009) - http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TEDTalks_video/~3/u7p6qmHV1s0/755
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
6.28.2010
5.03.2010
Strike up Ruffles and Flourishes! GOAL!
This morning I achieved my goal weight of 180 pounds.
(He pauses, waiting for the cheers of the crowd to die sown…)
I am very happy to have attained this goal, and hope to keep losing; I'm setting modest incremental goals, so I think I will go for 175 and see how that works.5.01.2010
4.30.2010
4.29.2010
Hawaii Voters – Please remember in November
Here are the people who need to file for unemployment. They are the members of the Hawaii House of Representatives who ignored the expressed will of the electorate and pulled a Pearl Harbor style sneak attack in the final hours of the Legislative Session, Passing HB444, the Civil Unions bill. Keep this list handy. If any of these people are from your area, please vote for anyone with a pulse who runs against them.
| Della Au Belatti 25th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 331 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Phone 808-586-9425; fax 808-586-9431 |
|
| |
| Lyla B. Berg 18th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 324 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Phone 808-586-6510; fax 808-586-6511 |
|
| |
| Joe Bertram, III 11th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 311 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-8525; fax 808-586-8529 From Maui, toll free 984-2400 + 68525 |
|
| |
| Tom Brower 23rd Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 315 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-8520; fax 808-586-8524 E-mail repbrower@Capitol.hawaii.gov |
|
| |
| Rida Cabanilla 42nd Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 442 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-6080; fax 808-586-6081 |
|
| |
| Mele Carroll 13th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 405 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Phone 808-586-6790; fax 808-586-6779 From Maui, toll free 984-2400 + 66790 From Molokai and Lanai, toll free 1-800-468-4644 + 66790 |
|
| |
| Pono Chong 49th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 404 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-9490; fax 808-586-9496 E-mail repchong@Capitol.hawaii.gov |
|
| |
| Denny Coffman 6th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 317 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-9605; fax 808-586-9608 |
|
| |
| Faye P. Hanohano 4th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 303 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-6530; fax 808-586-6531 From the Big Island, toll free 974-4000 + 66530 |
|
| |
| Robert N. Herkes 5th Representative District Hawaii State Capitol, Room 320 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 phone 808-586-8400; fax 808-586-8404 From the Big Island, toll free 974-4000 + 68400 E-mail repherkes@Capitol.hawaii.gov |
|
| |
| Jon Riki Karamatsu 41st Representative District |
4.27.2010
Turning 11, Pushing 60
Today is April 27, 2010 -- a milestone day for my Compassion sponsored child, Felma. I sent her Birthday Cards weeks ago, and arranged for a gift to be purchased for her, but I wish I could be in Davao to sing "Happy Birthday" to her and give her a hug.
She's an adorable kid. I told people that I thought I won the sponsored child lottery when I met her. I pray for her often, think of her often, and have incredible hopes and dreams for her future. She is young, and poor, and has no easy access to a computer or internet access. It is unlikely that she will see this, at least any time soon. But when she is released from poverty, educated and financially secure, she may have her own computer and she may be able to discover this post from her past. I want her to know that her sponsor loved her, worried about her welfare, and supported her dreams.
Happy Birthday, dear Felma. May your 11th year be your best year so far. I have her birthday on my mind as I ponder my own pending birthday. On May 19 I will turn 60. Sixty. SIX-OH. It sounds implausible… impossible to me that I will be sixty in three weeks. I don't feel sixty, but when I look in the mirror I see a face staring back at me that I hardly recognize. Sixty. In three weeks. Wow.4.25.2010
2 Pounds to go!
The goal is in sight... so very close. Just two more pounds til I hit my 180 target! You can do it, too.
Almost there!
My goal was to lose down to 180, and I am only 2.4 pounds from reaching that goal! Once I hit it, I'll set a new goal of 170-175 range. I feel better without lugging around basically the weight of a heavy bowling ball, most of which was in my gut.
4.19.2010
Not as bad as I feared
After 2 weeks in Korea, eating what was served to me, I really worried that I had gained all my weight back. After resuming my treadmill habit today I weighed in and... TA-DA!... only 1.7 pounds gained!
4.11.2010
The effect of the American Diet?
Michelangelo's David...
…after eating the American diet for a couple of years.
4.08.2010
Land of the Morning Calm? Really?
I am in Korea, which, I am told, is the Land of the Morning Calm. That name is either meant to be irony, or it was given by someone who has never been to Korea. Koreans get up early. Really, really early. It seems to be part of the national DNA. They get up early, I am told to pray. This is a practice near and dear to Korean Christians' hearts, but I learned this week that the practice predates Christianity as a Korean tradition. In any case, churches, mountains and pretty much all of Korea stir very early and go to prayer at about 5:00 AM. Koreans, in case you are unaware, are a fervent and vocal people, and they pray with great vigor… and great volume. At 5:00 AM. I am — for those of you who are unfamiliar — very much a night person. If my clocks even HAVE a 5:00 AM I am totally unaware of it, having almost never actually experienced a 5:00 AM. Morning Calm. Maybe somewhere, but not in Korea.
4.06.2010
Eye-opening international perspectives
I am in a class with a very diverse international group of students. They come from all across Asia… India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar… many of them from Muslim-dominant nations. I have listened today to hours of those students expressing their world-views in regards to Islamic fundamentalism, America and our American leadership. It has been an eye-opener. There is pretty much universally a view among them that the election of Obama as U.S. President was celebrated in their nations as a major victory among the Islamic citizens of their nations with dancing in the streets. BHO has been referred to in those countries as Mubarrack Hussein Obama. It has been sobering and a bit frightening to hear them express their hearts.
4.03.2010
3.30.2010
Travelocity - Hawaiian Air - Korean Air problem
Just had a frustrating circular pass-the-buck customer service fiasco, and thought I would issue a warning. The story: I am traveling to Korea with an associate this Saturday. I booked the flight months ago using Travelocity, a service I have used successfully before. I purchased a ticket on Hawaiian Airlines because the dates and flight times were right, and the price was right. As it turns out, the flight I booked is a code-share route with Korean Air… in other words, that Hawaiian Air ticket bought a seat on a Korean Air flight. So far, so good. I like Korean Air. I am even a card-carrying member of their frequent flier program. I am also a Hawaiian Air frequent flier. The problem arose when I started trying to get a seat pre-assignment. I am one of those people who must (emphasis on the MUST) get up and go to the restroom frequently during flights, so I always book an aisle seat: I'd much prefer to have others climb over me than to inconvenience them by climbing over -- and on an 11 hour flight, it can be a lot of climbing! I called Travelocity - "We can't help you with that… the seat assignments must be done by the airline, so call Korean Air." I called Korean Air - "I'm sorry; your ticket is actually a Hawaiian Air ticket, so they have to issue seat assignment." I called Hawaiian Airlines - "I'm sorry; this is a code-share flight, and you will actually be on a Korean Air flight, so they have to issue the seat assignment." So, in short, I am in seat assignment limbo. Each responsible partner points at one of the others and says "Sorry - see them…" and nobody seems able to assist me. I am, needless to say, very frustrated and highly disappointed in two airlines and a company I use often. Everyone is polite. Everyone is apologetic. Everyone is powerless. This is an epic customer relations fiasco, and I am not looking forward to the two long flights.
3.23.2010
Hang on - they're coming for your freedom
20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms
The sections described below are taken from HR 3590 as agreed to by the Senate and from the reconciliation bill as displayed by the Rules Committee.
1. You are young and don’t want health insurance? You are starting up a small business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is to forego health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the “privilege.” (Section 1501)
2. You are young and healthy and want to pay for insurance that reflects that status? Tough. You’ll have to pay for premiums that cover not only you, but also the guy who smokes three packs a day, drink a gallon of whiskey and eats chicken fat off the floor. That’s because insurance companies will no longer be able to underwrite on the basis of a person’s health status. (Section 2701).
3. You would like to pay less in premiums by buying insurance with lifetime or annual limits on coverage? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer such policies, even if that is what customers prefer. (Section 2711).
4. Think you’d like a policy that is cheaper because it doesn’t cover preventive care or requires cost-sharing for such care? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer policies that do not cover preventive services or offer them with cost-sharing, even if that’s what the customer wants. (Section 2712).
5. You are an employer and you would like to offer coverage that doesn’t allow your employers’ slacker children to stay on the policy until age 26? Tough. (Section 2714).
6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services; chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.
You’re a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover pediatric services. You’re a woman who can’t have children? Tough, your policy must cover maternity services. You’re a teetotaler? Tough, your policy must cover substance abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of personal freedom here.) (Section 1302).
7. Do you want a plan with lots of cost-sharing and low premiums? Well, the best you can do is a “Bronze plan,” which has benefits that provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan. Anything lower than that, tough. (Section 1302 (d)(1)(A))
8. You are an employer in the small-group insurance market and you’d like to offer policies with deductibles higher than $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families? Tough. (Section 1302 (c) (2) (A).
9. If you are a large employer (defined as at least 101 employees) and you do not want to provide health insurance to your employee, then you will pay a $750 fine per employee (It could be $2,000 to $3,000 under the reconciliation changes). Think you know how to better spend that money? Tough. (Section 1513).
10. You are an employer who offers health flexible spending arrangements and your employees want to deduct more than $2,500 from their salaries for it? Sorry, can’t do that. (Section 9005 (i)).
11. If you are a physician and you don’t want the government looking over your shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to use your claims data to issue you reports that measure the resources you use, provide information on the quality of care you provide, and compare the resources you use to those used by other physicians. Of course, this will all be just for informational purposes. It’s not like the government will ever use it to intervene in your practice and patients’ care. Of course not. (Section 3003 (i))
12. If you are a physician and you want to own your own hospital, you must be an owner and have a “Medicare provider agreement” by Feb. 1, 2010. (Dec. 31, 2010 in the reconciliation changes.) If you didn’t have those by then, you are out of luck. (Section 6001 (i) (1) (A)).
13. If you are a physician owner and you want to expand your hospital? Well, you can’t (Section 6001 (i) (1) (B). Unless, it is located in a country where, over the last five years, population growth has been 150% of what it has been in the state (Section 6601 (i) (3) ( E)). And then you cannot increase your capacity by more than 200% (Section 6001 (i) (3) (C)).
14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet costs? Well, if that increase is deemed “unreasonable” by the Secretary of Health and Human Services it will be subject to review and can be denied. (Section 1003)
15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you will pay depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell to the total number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2.3 billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it starts at $2.55 billion, jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in 2018, before settling at $2.8 billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a pharmaceutical executive, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).
16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from medical device makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will pay depends on your share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the medical devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2 billion, or $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for R&D? Tough. (Section 9009 (b)).
The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical device makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).
17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from insurance companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on your share of net premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So, if your net premiums and administrative costs are equal to 10% of the total, you will pay 10% of $6.7 billion, or $670,000,000. In the reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8 billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion in 2018 (Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)
18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is worth more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).
19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar you make over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you file an individual return. What? You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9015).
That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will also apply to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Like you need to ask. (Section 1402).
20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on the cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9017).
3.22.2010
Real practical advice: sandwiches
I love being thinner. I feel stronger, have more energy, look better in my clothes (to the extent that is possible) and actually get physically ill when I eat something unhealthy! This is a HUGE lifestyle change for a guy raised in the south eating pretty much everything fried, and bread-bread-bread at every meal. Still, sometimes I miss the taste and texture of bread. Bread is not evil. Jesus is called "the BREAD of life." So my way of having a taste of bread in a familiar format is to eat a sandwich now and then, but instead of a huge bun or two slices of bread, I use Oroweat Sandwich Thins. They are thin, multi-grain and whole grain, only 100 calories for the entire "bun" with 5g of fiber and 1g of fat. Give them a try. This is not a paid endorsement. http://www.sandwichthins.com/
3.21.2010
Another pound down
Posting a day early since I plan to be out and about all day Monday and might forget to do it.
I am down exactly one more pound for the week, despite being locked in my office for days on end completing papers and projects during Fuller finals week, which meant I did NOT eat as well or as often as normal, and I probably nervously snacked more. I am pretty sure I didn't drink nearly as much water as I should have last week, because the constant interruptions for bathroom breaks was messing me up! SO... in short, I'll take one pound and run with it!3.15.2010
The ides of March weigh-in
The magic number for this week is 185.7 pounds. That's a loss of 1.2 pounds for the past week, so the downward trend continues. A loss of a pound a week works well for me at this stage. Think about it… if a person could lose a pound a week, that would be 52 pounds per year. (The inverse of this is the way weight gain creeps up on us. If we GAIN a pound a week, we put on more than 50 pounds in a year.)
The quest for the skinny me hidden under layers of padding continues. Stay tuned.3.08.2010
March 8 weigh-in
There you have it. 186.9 -- actually just under a half pound MORE than a week ago, but that's a relief. I spent a large part of the past week at a conference, eating out, having buffet lunches with not always the most healthy options, sitting in sessions 12 hours a day unable to eat meals on a good schedule and no exercise.
I was really thinking "this weigh-in could be a disaster… I might have gained 5 pounds this week!" The number on the scales this morning were a huge relief.You might actually see my shirt tucked in more often!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)