"ALS, Robin Williams and the ice bucket challenge..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen' (Kimo's world #29)

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in
  Kapa'a Hawai'i with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby

Kimo's world #29

ALS, Robin Williams and the ice bucket challenge



There has been a viral phenomena happening the last few weeks called the ALS ice bucket challenge.

My question is how many of the movie stars, athletes or your neighbors partaking in the ice bucket challenge even know what "ALS" stands for? Are they only doing this for narcissistic reasons, showing off on social media?

It's alleged purpose is to bring awareness to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. How many are actually donating money or just having fun dousing themselves in ice water?  Is this challenge really raising awareness? Most these people do not even know what  ALS stand or  what happens symptomatically to people with ALS?

 ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
 A deadly disease that destroys your nervous system and muscle activities leaving it's victims pretty much helpless, inoperable and eventually with paralysis and not being able to control bodily functions or even  feed themselves.

ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The ice bucket challenge  seems like a waste of good clean drinking water.Donate money instead of dousing oneself in ice water, but remember even when donating money many times 90% or more of your donation to non profits go towards CEO's salaries, rents etc. 

I am going to tie this in with the recent  alleged suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams. You have a so called physically healthy person at least during the time of his demise and you have  ALS patients clinging on to life with every last effort.

I have a theory  and spin that I have not heard  anywhere else. Could it be Robin William's suicide was framed? He was a known drug abuser. Could he had been in trouble with the wrong crowd, could someone actually had staged his suicide?

A man as in love with life  and  laughter  as Robin does not commit suicide no matter what all the shrinks have been telling us. Laughter is healing. Robin may have been depressed,  but killing himself? Maybe, maybe not?He was best-fiends with actor Christopher Reeves who played superman and was paralyzed from the neck down from a horse back riding accident.

There is a story that while Christopher Reeves was  still in the hospital  trying to face his new life of paralysis and depression. Robin Williams came to visit his friend dressed in blue scrubs. He made Reeves laugh for the first time in months, at that point Reeves decided life was still worth living.

Imagine if  Robin Williams with some sort of Hollywood magic could had given his health to a person with advance ALS. Imagine if suicidal people could give  their lives to people fighting for their lives. We know that's not possible, however I believe Williams would had done  just that.

The state of Oregon has  legalized assisted suicide, for some suicide is a means to an end. Who would want to be totally paralyzed, not able to control bodily functions and never even feed oneself? Suicide for some is better than suffering through a horrendous terminal illness. 

Maybe I am the ultimate conspiracy therapist, but I do not believe Robin William committed suicide and I do believe that patients with ALS should have the right to commit suicide in their later stage of the disease if that's their choice.

If  you  believe dumping a bucket of ice water on yourself will find a cure for ALS,  then start dousing yourselves for the cures of every disease including all cancers and mental illnesses.


Ice water is not going to find the cure for any disease. Vodka and ice, maybe?

P.S.
A local man has created the trash bucket challenge!  Great concept!
Check it out!
https://www.facebook.com/thetrashbucketchallenge

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/26351468/local-man-creates-spinoff-of-ice-bucket-challenge

P.S.S.

Former president George W. Bush  challenges Bill Clinton to the 'ALS 'ice bucket challenge.  Check it pout!;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po1R1NgOMsE

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"Baby boomers can learn new things..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York and has worked in

the ophthalmology field of medicine for over 30 years.

Baby boomers can learn new things

Last week we had almost decided to remove our overgrown  deer eaten bushes in our front flower beds, they have been there for the last 13 yrs and were looking overgrown and ratty. 

My neighbor who is a landscaper and retired biology teacher came to offer advice; he told us that he does this every few years, cut the bushes down to a stump and they will re-start growing next year and will be like new bushes if you can stand the emptiness in the front bed.   

We decided to take his advice and thought if they don't come back, we can always replace them.  It took us over 2 hrs to hack these bushes apart. We raked all the scraps into a tarp and tied them up. What a pile we had on the curb.  Our beds do look clean and tidy now and lucky for us the rubbish collectors took every scrap, so a word to the wise, cut back scrubs and save some money for yourselves.

 Its worth the effort, even baby boomers can learn new things.

    
P.S.
Check out this man on the moon bake beans ad, it's very funny!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZgD89VYkVc

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"Atheist on an airplane..." 'Robert Bitos Gandia' (Source)

 Guest-blogger,Robert Bitos Gandia.
Robert is an avid cook (ono gandule rice) and always laughing!!
He works at Syngenta as a Research Associate.
Robert lives in Kekaha on Kauai's west-side and loves football!!

Atheist on an airplane

An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the atheist. "How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?" as he smiled smugly.

"Okay," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?"

The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence,
thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea." To which
the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss
God, Heaven and Hell, or life after death, when you don't know shit?"

And... then she went back to reading her book.

P.S.
Check out this hilarious YouTube of a dog playing with the image in the mirror!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSPG2H41kEU

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"Hello There..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux, a resident of Kauai for over forty years, is an 
award winning writer, columnist, novelist, peace and environmental 
activist who knows, and loves Kauai with a passion that shows up in her work

Check out the recent YouTube video of Bettejo's 84th Birthday bash and booksigning party at Birdies  in Kalaheo;
http://youtu.be/5iVelkZ_0eo

Hello There

Bettejo signs her novella for a fan at Birdies in Kalaheo...

Hi, it's me Bettejo, with my weekly column right here at Kimo's blog and Ho'iki Community Television's Art and Entertainment site. If  you know how to get here, please come in-let's be friends-and tell your friends, family and neighbors, how to come in, too.

Let's get lively. Let's get acquainted. Let's get known out there.

The company here-Jay, Julia and Kainoa-is delightful, The set is simple and perfect, great lighting-no close ups, Mr. DeMille. I will attempt to be entertaining. And Sassy. As long as I'm not profane or call names-which going's on are not my stele-I can say what I want. No more censorship, no more editors, no more mysterious black outs or displacements. I will try to have new current, controversial, conversations with you. Hope to include you in any of the issues or subjects I discuss. Be my guest.

Today I sit with two of my favorite writers, me-CHILDREN OF THE  EXTINCTION-and Chris Hedges-DEATH OF THE LIBERAL CLASS. Remember writers not only write, they  speak and  read. I'll admit most of my friends are on bookshelves and I have a lot of them.

Chris-a respected journalist who tired of media suppression-said, and I quote:

"Governments are owned by corporations, run by psychopaths lying about an imaginary economy based on debt, fueled by illegal wars, destroying ecosystems, poisoning food and water, decreasing education, increasing prisons, manipulating the media, foreclosing homes, suppressing energy technology, making s struggle, starving, humiliating, and killing the world.

That's a mouthful, but does it sound truthful? Do we not experience-daily-this madness, right here on Kauai? Are these statements-perchance-part of the 'orthodoxy' we do not dare-or cannot, or are forbidden to express?

Let's think about property taxes. A hot topic. And let's think about the future.

Do you think there are those who see the future as a place where only the top 10% can afford to own property and homes and pay the taxes? They who live in gated ghettos for the rich or on small, useless but beautiful, gentlemen farms?

Where enormous corporations own vast acres of dollar crops spraying  pesticide and herbal toxins in the air, which also foul the water in the oceans, the streams, rivers, and aquifers. Crops not to be eaten on Kauai by those of us who live here, but grown for profit. People  be bleeped.

Where a large military, police and political force is present to control those of us who protest this destructive abuse and misuse. They will be assured roofs over their heads, water in their tubs and swimming pools, and power in their dwellings.

What's left of us, if lucky, will live in overcrowded-rigidly controlled-lower income ghettos and make beds, cook  food, clean, moot clerk, dig ditches, mow lawns, and serve they who have the bucks to afford us. Classic third world structure envisioned for Kauai.

What think you? Care to talk about it?

Go to www.hoike.org scroll down and on the right of your screen click on Arts and Entertainment-

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

"How to impress..." 'Marvin Gross' (Source)

Marvin Gross is a Financial consultant currently residing in Western N.Y.
Today Marvin shares  about how to impress...enjoy!

How to impress

An old guy (not in the best of shape) was working out in the gym

When he spotted a sweet young thing... He asked the trainer that was nearby "What machine in here should I use to impress that sweet thing over there?"

The trainer looked him up and down and said "I would try the ATM in the lobby"

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

"If all business's priced themselves like the airlines..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen' (Kimo's world #28)

James "Kimo" Rosen on the sidelines  with Buffalo Bills Quarterback
Doug Flutie during the 1998 Pro-Bowl in Honolulu.
James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in
  Kapa'a Hawai'i with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby

Kimo's world #28)

If all business's priced themselves like the airlines


Imagine if restaurants, supermarkets and all business enterprises  priced themselves like the airlines.

 Why is checking the price of airline flights like playing the stock market, up one day,  down the next.?

Flights from smaller airports can be cheaper. weekend trips are less expensive when you depart on Saturday and return on Monday.Departing on a Friday and returning on a Sunday can wind up costing 2-3 times more than the cheapest time to book.

Airlines release their last-minute weekend deals on Tuesdays, so being flexible can save you money.
Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheapest days to fly. The weekends are the most expensive.

On a Hawaiian airlines flight  of 102 miles  flight from Lihue  to  Honolulu fares can  start at  $89.30 one way, however you can wind up paying  fares of $97, $103, $117, $128,162,192, 207etc. for the exact same seat. There are also plus  fee's of $25.00 for the first bag and $35.00 for the second and each additional bag.

Airline fares  from Los Angeles to Chicago have an even greater variance   starting at  low as $109 one way all the way up to  nearly $2,000.

Now imagine if restaurants price themselves like the airlines;
That would mean on  a busy day a hamburger could cost $25.00 or more (similar to food trucks on Kauai) or on a not so busy day a hamburger might cost $2.50. I know the price I would prefer!

If you want a good deal on steak and lobster go out to eat on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Pizzas would be most expensive on the weekends, however Mondays would be a great deal on Pizza.

Going shopping at the supermarket on Tuesdays or Wednesdays  could mean hundreds of dollars in savings or going on the weekends would make one go broke.

The same is true for buying new cars, who ever pays sticker price on anew car? Who ever pays listed price on real estate? I have even found that my neighbors who have the exact same cable packages all pay a different price than me. Of course I have the best deal, because everything is negotiable.

Thrift stores are getting too expensive and trendy too. Ironically I have seen cheaper prices on new clothes than  paying for used clothes that were once worn by dead people.

The key to getting a good deals is never being afraid to ask for it. Maybe it would be good if restaurants, supermarkets and all business's charged like the airlines?

For those upset over merchants charging premium prices for water during the recent hurricane watch and wanting to prosecute for price gouging just take a look at the airlines and every other business being guilty of the same.

It's all about supply and demand, free enterprise and capitalism!

Obama Da Dog with a fake deer and live chickens...

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"Garage Sale Frenzy..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York and has worked in

the ophthalmology field of medicine for over 30 years.

Garage Sale Frenzy

 Once again it was the week of our neighborhood garage sale; every beginning of August for the last 10 years our neighborhood does a joint effort, advertises and combines all our efforts to have the biggest sale ever.  We even included the neighborhood behind us this year to participate.  Garage sales are a wonderful way to clear out unused clothing, items that have been treasured by our significant other that have outlived their usefulness and children’s  items  that  they have left after leaving the nest; they amount  to   treasures that they could not part with but did not want to bring to their new abode so they ask if they can leave them in the house for future use.  We have a whole lot of those things.

Garage sales can be exhausting to say the least; first comes the dredging   of closets and bringing up from the basement all the old stuff.  Then comes  the organizing and tagging of every item so as to make it clear for any shopper to identify.   Tables all organized and set the night before because anyone who has ever had a sale in their house knows that the times posted mean nothing to the serious shoppers. 

It seems that 8AM -3PM means  “come any time” and our first shopper was at our doorstep early Friday morning at 7:30AM.  Not to worry, I was ready for them; my first priority was to unload anything and everything I had hung out, boxed up or displayed for the public.  Prices seem to mean nothing as well; they translate into a conversation starting with “will you take half the price?”  Sure, why not just give it to you…Then there are those shoppers that want practically a warranty on the item that they are paying a few dollars for…I often got asked, “does it still work?” and “is it the real thing”? 

Towards the end of the first day I did sell my larger items that I was happy about; but was left tired and hot after standing in the sun for 8 hours pitching my best sales talk to so many for so few dollars.

I have made it a rule in our house that nothing comes back into the garage that goes unsold; all left over items get carted away to charities.  During the last few hours of my sale I will put signs on the items that are large that say “take me home - I am free” .  And my last ditch effort to get rid of those items that no one will take is to line up the leftovers on the curb; there is always a junk man who will scour the neighborhood after  dark to get some treasures.  Surprisingly this year I had a knock at my door after dinner time to ask me if he could take the items on the curb which I thought was very considerate.

So, I feel my sale was a success because it met my three criteria; I was able to get rid of a lot of unused items,  got a little chaching for my purse, and got a little tan to boot.  My husband always says “never again” after the sale is over, but we know better.  Come next  Spring we will be sorting again for our annual sale so as to not break tradition; it’s a great way to catch up with the neighbors and have a little friendly competition amongst friends.  We always compare notes at the end about our most  trying customers and biggest sales because garage sales bring out the best and worst in people. Every customer is a potential sale and I enjoy the challenge. 

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